Blog #10 Tuesday, Apr 19 2011

I was suppose to do my service learning work at the cemetery. Unfortunately, I was unable to do my service learning work at the cemetery with the rest of my peers, so I did it at the Mark Fletcher Fun Run/Walk 2011 for the Nursa Foundation with a group of students from Xavier University of Louisiana. I helped out with the registration and making sure that every runner had a runner and a T-shirt as well. Moreover, I helped with handing out water to the runners while they competed in the race. Afterwards, we cleaned once all the runners were done running/walking.

The whole experience was great because not only did I help the community, but I also enjoyed it. I enjoyed it because I am a Cross Country/Track & Field runner at Xavier University, so anything that is related to running I enjoy. The people from the Nursa Foundation were extremely glad to se that we, students from Xavier University, were willing to wake up at 5:30 am to volunteer. Another reason why I enjoyed the whole experience is because when we arrived to the location of the event it was at 5:30 am when it was dark. However, as we were helping at the event, we were able to witness the sunrise and it was very beautiful. Our award for volunteering and helping was that we all received a free T-shirt each. What I learned from the whole experience is that even the smallest thing can make a difference. Although we were only helping to pass out water and clean up, it meant so much to the people of the Nursa Foundation.

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Memorable Funeral Monday, Jan 24 2011

The most memorable funeral I’ve attended so far is my grandmother’s funeral. I’ve attended other funerals, but the funerals were of people that I was not close to at all.  Therefore, attending her funeral was memorable because she was my gandmother. Her death was unexpectally but few of the relatives predicted that her death was near. My grandmother, Irene Marentes, died on March 9, 2010, a week before my birthday from cancer. On January 2010 she was diagnosed with cancer and passed away on March 2010. It was very devastating being at my grandmother’s funeral because everything occured so rapidly that I was undenial about her death for a while. It was also very hard to grasp the concept that my grandmother was no longer alive and that she would not be present at my prom party, graduation, or to see me go off to college. Another reason why her funeral is so memorable is because during her funeral many of the relatives took the time to express their love for her and all the good memories of her. Although her death was devastating, we took her funeral as a day to reminence about her and make it a good day instead of a depressing day.

My grandmother’s death was more of a reality check for me because it made me realize that life is short. Many individuals live their lives believing that just because he/she is young and healthy that they still have a long life ahead of them until death. However, everyone should be aware of how short life can be. I can be healthy today and be extremely sick tomorrow. This example happened to my grandmother who was healthy and then from one moment to another, she got extremely sick and was diagnosed with cancer. It made me change my whole perspective about life. It made live life knowing that today can be my last, so therefore, I chose to live everyday as if its my last day.

 

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Email Your Favorite Teacher at Xavier. Friday, Dec 10 2010

Dear Bonnie,

I am emailing you to simply thank you for everything you have done this semester. I truly believe that you sincerely love what you do, which is teaching English to Xavier students. I have learned many things about you and vice versa. You were always very understanding of others. You always tried to put yourself in my position and that is was made English class go smooth. Throughout the entire semester, I have never once felt offended or uncomfortable. Honestly, I was not excited about taking English this semester, but you made it very interesting and fun as well. You are a great person all around. Throughout this whole semester, I have never once seen you upset. The moment you walk into the class you smile and continue to throughout the whole class period. I also want to thank you because you taught me many things. One of the things you taught me was how to diagram a sentence. Learning how to diagram really helped because I was able to look at a sentence and determine the part of speech for each word. I also thank you for preparing and correcting when writing my essays. I appreciate your passion that is demonstrated through your teaching. Anytime I may have question you are quick to answer. When ever I was stuck on how to express myself through my writing or even had writers block on a paper you were always available to assist me. I always looked forward and enjoyed going to your class. You always made sure that everyone was engaged in the class activity and that no one fell behind. You are the true definition of a great teacher and I thank you for that. Overall, you are one of the best teachers here at Xavier, I mean it from the bottom of my heart.

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Do Some Research on Katherine Drexel. Do You Think She Would Be Happy with Xavier Today? Why or Why Not? Friday, Dec 10 2010

St. Katharine Drexel was an American nun born in Philadelphia in 1958. She was also a philanthropist and an educator. She was from a wealthy family. Drexel dedicated her life and inheritance to the needs of oppressed Native Americans and African-Americans. She was a vocal advocate of racial tolerance. She sought to create an institution where people were taught to be leaders and create a more just and humane society. One of her greatest contributions was the establishment of the Sisters of Blessed Sacrament, whose initial purpose was to address racial injustice and to spread the gospel among individuals. She also founded Xavier University, the only Historically Black Catholic University in 1925. By creating the university, Katherine Drexel had set high expectations for the students who would attend there.  The mission of Xavier University shows exactly what Katherne Drexel wanted to gain while attending and once they graduated from Xavier.When Katherine Drexel passed away there were more than 500 sisters teaching at 63 schools throughout the country.

Katherine Drexel would be very pleased with Xavier University today because Xavier continues to improve more each and every year. Xavier is ranked number one for placing African Americans into Medical schools.  Xavier also has a great pharmacy program. Katherine Drexel would be very happy about the values that Xavier University teaches their students. Even though Xavier prides itself on its academic achievements, Xavier also has a strong will to teach their students to do the right thing. Another reason why she would be very pleased is because the College of Pharmacy is one of the two in Louisiana and is amoung the nation’s top three producers of African American  Doctor of Pharmacy degree recipients. Most importantly, she would be happy to know that the service at Xavier consist of giving back to the community regardless if it is with time, presence, or money. This college heavily enforce service hours in whatever club or social group.

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What Role Does Money Play in Farmer’s Quest to Provide Health Care? Friday, Dec 10 2010

Money plays a huge part in Farmer’s quest to provide health care. In Cange there is barley any money in currency because of the lack of jobs and resources. A physician cannot properly provide for his patients without the expensive, but necessary equipment needed. The more severe the disease is, the more Farmer will need the money to get better medicine to treat the disease. Because most of Farmer’s savings were used in previous project that he was running low in cash. Farmer was not sure if he was going to be able to get financial support that he needed to finish building the clinic in Cange. Two years before, Farmer had put in a request to a charity named Project Bread for a few thousand dollars,  to build a bread oven in Cange, and received the money.  Farmer had only limited experience as a fund-raiser (91). Just when Farmer thought that he would never get the money to finish building, an “anonymous donor” donated a few thousand dollars to help with the building in Haiti. The donor’s name was Tom White, an extremely wealthy owner of a heavy construction company. Knowing White’s generosity, Farmer asked White if he could possibly make donations to his “healthcare improvement plans” and White right away made a donation.  He donated enough money to inititate Paul Farmer’s plans and goals to help improve Haiti’s healthcare. Overall, money played a huge role in Farmer’s quest to provide health care because without the money, he wouldn’t have been able to finish building in Haiti.

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What Role Does Farmer’s Catholic Heritage Play In His Work? Does Your Religious Heritage Influence Your Work? Friday, Dec 10 2010

Paul Farmer’s Catholic heritage is based around him being a doctor. Farmer is seen as a saint to his patient and colleagues because everything he does he is so passionate about. He shows that he truly cares about the patients and that money means nothing to him. He mostly cares about that they are healthy and always goes above and beyond for them. According to farmers patients “good gives everyone a gift and his gift is healing.” Catholic heritage plays a role in his life because his goal is to help Haiti, one of the poorest countries in the world. His Catholic Heritage has a lot to do with the way he carries himself and how he is towards others. Catholic heritage teach their people one another and be humble to other people needs. However, at the same time his Catholic heritage could have play no role in his work. It can be that helping others and saving lives is something that he truly enjoys to do. There are many people in society that dedicate their life to their jobs because they love it. For instance, I am from no religion at all. However, it doesn’t mean that I am not humble to other people needs because I am. I was raised to always help the less fortunate and to think of others. I currently have a job where I help disabled people to become independent. I enjoy what I do because I feel like I am making a difference in their lives. I am helping them to do something they never thought they were capable of doing, which is being independent. As you can see, Catholic heritage doesn’t always play in a person’s work. Overall, theres no way of knowing if Farmer’s Catholic heritage plays a role in his work.

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What Is Your Favorite Class at Xavier and Why? Thursday, Dec 9 2010

My favorite class at Xavier University of Louisiana is Fundamental of Public Speaking Class. It is my favorite classes because I benefited so much from it. I learned how to address a speech in front of an audience. I also learned how to overcome stage fright. Before, I feared of speaking in front of a crowd. However, after the course I no longer feel the same way because I now feel comfortable to give a speech. overcame stage fright through speech rounds. Speech rounds occurs every two weeks where each student give their speech. After presenting my speech, Dr Johnson would evaluate me and inform me what I  did right and what I wrong. Teacher evaluation was very helpful because it helped me prepare for the next speech round. Along with the teacher evaluation came classmate evaluation. After Dr Johnson would give her feedbacks, I would afterwards get feedbacks from my fellow peers which were also very helpful.

Not only did I learn how to give a speech but I also learned how to prepare for a speech. English one of my other favorite class as well. It is one of my favorite classes because I know many people in my close that I’m really good friends with, therefore, it makes the class fun. Another reason why I like English class is because of my teacher, Dr Bonnie. She is extremely funny and she always makes the class interesting. As a class we wrote many essays from narrative essays to advertisement essays. We also learned the basic stuff such as part of speeches. Afterwards, we learned how to graph sentences. Learning  how to graph sentences helps because its easier to determine the part of speech for each word. Overall, both public speaking and english are my favorite classes at Xavier.

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How Has Poverty Benefited Haiti and New Orleans? How Has It Hurt Haiti and New Orleans? Do You Believe In the Preferential Option for the Poor? Thursday, Dec 9 2010

Poverty by definition means the state or condition of having little or no money, goods or means of support. As of now, places such as Haiti and New Orleans are considered “impoverished” due to natural disasters.Both Orleans and Haiti have benefited from it in many ways. It has benefited due to the fact that others are willing to give and donate time, money, and efforts of themselves in order to help its citizens. On the other hand, its not always beneficial to New Orleans or Haiti because although they are receiving donations and money from the government, its not always enough. Until this day, many people from New Orleans state that the United States still continue to do nothing to fix the tragic in New Orleans.

This really hurts New Orleans and Haiti because they are too poor especially in Haiti. Both Haiti and New Orleans were affected dramatically by natural disaster because everything was basically diminished everything. Up until now both New Orleans and Haiti are still not fully recovered from the tragic. Both tragic affected mostly the people who lived in either New Orleans or in Haiti because they lost everything from houses, materials, to a close loved one. Another reason why poverty hurt New Orleans and Haiti is because they are nothing to people who are wealthy. The needs of poor people are the last priorities to numerous people. To world, New Orleans and Haiti, the poor, have no voice in the real world.

I’m not sure I do believe in preferential option for the poor because in life you have to work and earn your hard work money. Many poor people would benefit, but many would take advantage of it. Various people will decide not to work and expect everything to be handed to them. However, others would benefit from it because many individuals sometimes need the extra help to get to the top. I believe everyone should work to get their own things in life. Just like the wealthy people, majority worked hard to get to where they are.

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What Type of Leadership Skills Does Paul Farmer Possess? What Type of Leadership Skills Do You Possess? Thursday, Dec 9 2010

The type of leadership skills that Paul Farmer possesses is determination. On pgage 79, Paul Farmer states, “I’m an action kind of guy.” Many people are not very self motivated or determined to get what they want. However, Paul Farmer is very different because he goes after what he wants, he gets the job done and does it well. Another leadership skill that he possesses throughout the novel is he is very passionate about what he does, which is working as a Doctor. On page 69, Ophelia stated, “How does he know what to say to me that would be comforting” referring to Paul Farmer. Farmer knew how to make his patients feel better. Both determination and passionate are leadership skills because many individuals don’t the same skills as he does. Therefore, these skills make him unique, where others look up to him and want to be like him as well. I can say that I am very much similar to Paul Farmer but I also possess leadership skills such as determination. I dislike when certain individuals tell me what I am capable and incapable of. I enjoy going after what I want. Another leadership skill that I possess is being a peacemaker. A peacemaker is someone who always tries to stop disputes, and disagreements. Peacemaker falls into leadership because I’m basically taking in control of the situation and no one else.

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Is Paul Farmer a Good Role Model? Who Is Your Role Model and Why? Sunday, Nov 21 2010

A role model is a person whose behavior, example, or success is or can be emulated by others, esp. by younger people. Farmer is a perfect example of a good role model. In the novel, he works as a Doctor who helps ill patients. He is a very caring person and always willing to help. He never hesitates to leave Haiti. In Haiti, he walks hours to check on his patients. Farmer is a very humble person who doesn’t discriminate people by their financial status. He is a an intelligent Doctor who making a difference in peoples lives by healing their illness and saving many lives each day. He only does for the fortunate but for the unfortunate. Paul Farmer is truly for the people in the world and would do anything to make sure that all possible health care options are available for the little he can help.

Moreover, my mom is another perfect example of a good role model. My mom has always had a tough life, but she always managed to pull it together. When things went wrong, she always kept a positive attitude, and had a strong character. In my childhood, growing up I t0ok on her characteristics, which is having strong character. My mother always enforced having a positive attitude on me. Therefore, when things in life go wrong, I won’t ever give up. Instead, I’ll will get back up and continue to try harder. Another reason why she is a good role model is because she’s always searching for ways to help others, including the ones who are unfortunate. For instance, she works with people who are either mentally or physically disabled. She helps them by taking them to Doctor’s appointment, find them a job, and living on their own. Most importantly, she helps them become independent. Both Paul Farmer and my mother are people who many individuals look up to. They always think of others.

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