Do you think that Saint Katharine Drexel would be happy with Xavier? Why or why not? Friday, Nov 21 2008

Katharine Drexel was second born to Francis Anthony Drexel and Hannah Jane Langstroth. As a young women visiting the western United States, she witnessed first hand the kind of harsh life Native and African Americans had to endure. This important event helped her come to the conclusion that she would try to help relieve them of some of the pain that was caused by the poverty they lived in. In 1887 Sister Katharine opened her first school for Native and African Americans in Santa Fe, New Mexico, and moved on to open many more schools across the United States, Xavier University of Louisiana being one of them. Following her death Sister Katharine was declared the second American-born saint by Pope John Paul II in October of 2000. If Sister Katharine was alive today, I believe that she would be very pleased with the way Xavier is being ran. The school isn’t perfect (nothing is), and there is always room for improvement, but over all I believe the school lives up to her expectations. Not only is this school open to African Americans, but to all minorities, and to people of all ethnicities. Xavier also heavily promotes community service. Although it is not a requirement for the students, the administration stresses it tremendously so that we are in touch with the community and so that we know that even if we do something as small as helping a little kid learn how to say her ABC’s, we are still, in some way, helping make the world a better place.

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My fav. Mardi Gras or city festival… Friday, Nov 14 2008

Me being from Saint Louis, Missouri, I don’t really know anything about Mardi Gras. In my city we do have a Mardi Gras festival, but for some odd reason I have never participated in the festivities. With this being my first time ever even coming to New Orleans I’m really excited to see what Mardi Gras is all about in this notorious city. A lot of people talk about how fun and exciting it is so I’m really anxious to see what it is all about. But in my city we have a few festivals but my favorite is the V.P. Fair that goes on July 3-5. This fair was started in 1981 in order to promote the city of Saint Louis through out the country. In 1994, the V.P. Fair was changed to Fair Saint Louis. This was done to let the world know that this fair wasn’t just held in Saint Louis, it was apart of Saint Louis. During this fair there are a lot of activities for children and the best food, there are also live performances by some pretty famous people like, Patti Labelle, Earth Wind and Fire, Black Eyed Peas, etc. People come from all over to share in the festivities with us. Seeing as that this is during the Fourth of July holiday it is also a time for families to come together and celebrate this fun holiday. And my favorite part is on the last day when there is a huge firework display. It is gorgeous in the night sky.

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Who do I think would make a great political leader and why? Sunday, Oct 19 2008

I’m not really entitled to say who I think would make a great political leader because I haven’t really been watching the debate like I should. But from the information I have acquired, I have decided to put my faith in Barack Obama. I feel that he stands for positive change, not that John McCain doesn’t but I just feel that he has the same views as George W. Bush, and Bush is the reason that we are in this economic crisis now. I think Obama really does have a good plan that would help change the our country. Obama gives the middle and poor class people something to look forward to. It is not fair for the government to raise taxes on the people who are barely making a living. How do they expect these people, myself included, to live if we are the only ones paying back their debt? And to let those who are wealthy or rich get off without paying taxes at all is really crazy to me. If they are the ones with a substantial amount of money or wealth, why is it that they aren’t helping to foot the bill as well? Therefore, with this in mind I feel that Barack Obama would represent my “class of people” tremendously well. He understands that we are struggling to survive as the cost of living is constantly going up, and just the purchase of bare necessities is putting a humongous dent in people’s pocket. I would take much pleasure in this man becoming the President of the United States of America.

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How has poverty benefited New Orleans? How has it hurt New Orleans? Sunday, Oct 19 2008

In the city of New Orleans, the people here use the sorrow, caused by poverty, to make beautiful music, food, and art. Their anxiety release is artistic. This is the city where jazz and rhythm & blues originated. And all types of cuisines are concocted. Poverty among the community in New Orleans doesn’t benefit the city but it has helped it form it’s reputation, because even though the people here are going through trials and tribulations, they seem to find ways to make themselves as well as their families smile, if only with a soulful song or a delectable meal. In my opinion the people in this city use these artistic releases as a way to look on the bright side of their troubles, to be optimistic. But on the other side poverty is what, in a way, brings the city down. It is the cause of the many crimes that take place in New Orleans. Poverty makes people do things they never thought they would do, all for the sake of survival. New Orleans is the country’s number one city in America, for the highest crime rate. Along with it’s reputation of good music and food, New Orleans has a bad reputation when it comes to the unlawful acts being committed by the residents of the city. And I truly believe that poverty is in the top three, if not in the number one spot, reasons for crime. But if it wasn’t for this hardship New Orleans would not be, New Orleans and there would be no soulful music and delectable food to look forward to when coming to visit this lively city.

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What is my favorite class at Xavier and why? Sunday, Oct 19 2008

My favorite class at Xavier is Elementary Japanese. This course is a Dillard University based course, that was offered to Xavier students. I have always wanted to learn a language that was not so typical, so when I saw the flyer, I quickly jumped at the opportunity to enroll in the class. Japanese is a very difficult language to understand. There are so many things that, me being a foreigner, must memorize. An example would be their sentence formation. The sentence formations are not at all like the American language. For instance our sentence formation goes, subject, object, verb. Their sentence pattern is subject, verb, object. And their sentences are built around predicates, you can say a sentence in any word order but the meaning has to remain the same. Like if I were to say, in english, “I will go to Tokyo tomorrow,” in japanese it would be, “I tomorrow to Tokyo (will) go,” or “To Tokyo I tomorrow (will) go.” In japanese you can say it any way you like but the phrase (will) go remains in its position because it is the most important part of the sentence. Although it is hard, and will not get any easier, I really enjoy learning about the language as well as the culture. Their language has multiple ways to say a certain phrase, and depending on who you are conversing with, whether it is someone of higher, equal, or lower social status. You may use the polite (formal) version, or the plain (informal) version. I have learned that japanese people are meticulous when it comes to respecting people of higher status, you always use the polite version when speaking to them. And as far as the people of equal or lower status you can use the plain version, also when you are conversing with someone of lower status than you then they are required to speak to you in formal terms, but you may still speak to them in the plain version. It is a lot more to it than what I have named above, and it is a lot more complicated, but I really enjoy learning the ins and outs of the japanese culture.

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What are my professional plans, and does Xavier’s mission affect that? Friday, Sep 26 2008

My future plans are to become a sports medicine physician, and maybe one day run my own practice. By attending Xavier I am one step closer to my ultimate goal. This school is the beginning phase of my journey to becoming successful in life. Xavier’s mission statement says “… The ultimate purpose of the University is the promotion of a more just and humane society. To this end, Xavier prepares it’s students to assume roles of leadership and service in society.” To me this statement reflects everything that I want out of life and myself.

This school has expectations that, when you first hear them, you think they’re impossible, but once u get here this school will mold, shape, re-mold, and re-shape you until they’ve made you into this unbelievably well rounded person. At this point I most definitely haven’t made it to that point because I’m just starting out, and I still have numerous flaws that I’m so desperately trying to evolve and make them first-class qualities. But it’s not like the resources aren’t there for me. There are plenty of places around the campus that are designed to tend to the needs of new students and students period, I’m just a little inefficient at the current moment. There are also numerous activities, clubs, and programs available to us scholars, that will give us the opportunity to better our community as well as lead others/the less fortunate on the right path. I know I will succeed in my lifetime and that Xavier will be the reason for that success as well as the door opener to the many “golden” opportunities that will come my way.

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Why I chose to become an Xavierite? Friday, Sep 19 2008

I chose to become an Xavierite because being born and raised in Saint Louis, Mo, I felt that I needed to experience my next phase in life in a totally different environment, and I felt that New Orleans would be the best place for me. Originally my dream was to go to California and be come a student at UCLA, but as I got older my interest began to change. In my junior year i became adamant about becoming a doctor. At the time I didn’t know exactly what kind of doctor, but I just knew that was my calling. When my senior year came I did a project on what I wanted my future career to be. Doing some research I came upon a specialty in sports medicine (I cant remember the “scientific” name for it). While doing all the research on this career I had to chose a college that I felt would help me reach my dreams. During this period I came across Xavier University of Louisiana and immediately knew that I would be attending this university. This school is number one over Yale and Harvard University in getting minorities, like myself, into the best medical schools, and on top of that Xavier is one of the oldest HBCU’s. Xavier is also a relatively small school giving me the opportunity for more one on one time with the professor if need be. This school has changed many people’s lives and I would love for Xavier to be apart of, if not responsible for, the “evolution” of my life.

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