"Do Justice, Love Kindness, and walk humbly with your God" was the scripture one Sunday morning. I realized that this was the verse from Mika 6:8, but what I didn't realize that after this service my minister would ask me to join an awareness group he had organized specifically around this scripture.
This group consisted of our minister and four other active youth members. After a very long discussion we decided what our focus would be on: social justice.
Doing Justice is not as easy as it may sound. Becoming a part of this group gave me a realization that the social and humanitarian work I have been doing over the past few years was worth it. Not only did the family, children, and communities get a lot out of it; but so did I. I received a spiritual and personal high in my life and it has been the greatest emotion i have ever felt. Just seeing the faces of the ones receiving the help, gave back to me, what i have given to them: love.
One could say that this has "ruined" me for life. And in fact, it has. A friend of mine gave a sermon discussing our, and her personal experiences on our church's missionary work in Guayaquil, Ecuador. She tells of how once someone becomes a part of a movement like this, they are in it for life. It becomes a part of the heart, and a part of the soul. The term "ruined for life" is not meant in the negative way how most would view it. Yet, in a positive way, that for the rest of my life I am part of something wonderful.
For the rest of my life... I will be doing justice, loving kindness, and walking humbly with my God. I will continued to be "ruined for life." And this I truly believe.
Showing posts with label Random :p. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Random :p. Show all posts
Tuesday, November 18, 2008
Thursday, November 13, 2008
The Power Of Inspiration!
My Childhood, wouldn't necessarily be labeled as a normal one. I did have a loving and caring family at home, but I also had my church "family". Being raised in the "family" of over 600 was an intense thing to try to comprehend at this young age. But now, it has inspired me to become a Sunday School teacher so that I will become a part of inspiring the next generation of children in this church "family"
Alongside this "family" of 600 is who one could call the father of the house, Rev. Gary Smith and his wife, Linda Smith. While watching in the background as Linda and Gary go on multiple mission trips over the summer to places like West Virginia and Ecuador with dozens of volunteer youth from our church along for the ride; I just couldn't wait for my tern to come. And it did, that day finally came, but without the love and support from Gary and Linda I would have never been inspired to be a part of this mission work.
In every child's life there will hopefully be just one of "those" teachers. The one that moves their students to thrive on the knowledge that they will gain not only out of their classroom, but also out of life. I have found this teacher. In his own weird, and very negative way, he has inspired me to do my best and get my work done (although not often on time.) He has made me a better writer, a better speaker, a better thinker, and even a better person. Someday, I hope to thank him for all that he has done for me. To let him know that he helped me to get over the speed bump in my life and has inspired me to move forward.
I don't know where this world would be without the people who give out their time and their knowledge for the well being of others. Everyone has somehow been inspired to be where they are today and has been motivated to spread that inspiration.
I believe in the power of inspiration. That hopefully sometime in every ones lifetime they will be in the presence of someone that can truly inspire them to do great, be great, and someday have the power to inspire others in the same way that they were. With inspiration come responsibility and the motivation to reach their full potential in life. Over the course of my lifetime i have been inspired by a number of people. I consider myself to be very lucky to have such great role models in my life who have help me to become who I am today.
Alongside this "family" of 600 is who one could call the father of the house, Rev. Gary Smith and his wife, Linda Smith. While watching in the background as Linda and Gary go on multiple mission trips over the summer to places like West Virginia and Ecuador with dozens of volunteer youth from our church along for the ride; I just couldn't wait for my tern to come. And it did, that day finally came, but without the love and support from Gary and Linda I would have never been inspired to be a part of this mission work.
In every child's life there will hopefully be just one of "those" teachers. The one that moves their students to thrive on the knowledge that they will gain not only out of their classroom, but also out of life. I have found this teacher. In his own weird, and very negative way, he has inspired me to do my best and get my work done (although not often on time.) He has made me a better writer, a better speaker, a better thinker, and even a better person. Someday, I hope to thank him for all that he has done for me. To let him know that he helped me to get over the speed bump in my life and has inspired me to move forward.
I don't know where this world would be without the people who give out their time and their knowledge for the well being of others. Everyone has somehow been inspired to be where they are today and has been motivated to spread that inspiration.
I believe in the power of inspiration. That hopefully sometime in every ones lifetime they will be in the presence of someone that can truly inspire them to do great, be great, and someday have the power to inspire others in the same way that they were. With inspiration come responsibility and the motivation to reach their full potential in life. Over the course of my lifetime i have been inspired by a number of people. I consider myself to be very lucky to have such great role models in my life who have help me to become who I am today.
Monday, November 10, 2008
This I Believe...
Well, for starters i have four ideas rushing around in my head. The first is inspiration, and the power of it. this is where i would tell stories or a story of a person who has greatly inspired me. I am also thinking about respect and the importance of it; respecting adults (including teachers), family and friends, and respecting the Earth. Two other ideas that i have swimming around in my head are on different things both relating to my religion and my church.
Mika 6:8 and my strong belief of it, and i try to follow by what it say.
Youth Ministry and the importance children getting involved.
I have the same assignment for one of my other classes. And because my teacher for that class told the class to steer clear from writing about religion I will be using the power of inspiration for her class.
Mika 6:8 and my strong belief of it, and i try to follow by what it say.
Youth Ministry and the importance children getting involved.
I have the same assignment for one of my other classes. And because my teacher for that class told the class to steer clear from writing about religion I will be using the power of inspiration for her class.
Tuesday, October 28, 2008
My Day At SCSU :)
When I first heard about this flied trip I was very excited. And I am not going to lie to you, it was because I really did not want to be in school that Friday. On the way there, certain things started running through my head, like: should i have really came on this trip, what if its boring, I am missing a lot of work to go on this trip, and I already had a pile of absences and it is still not even the 2nd quarter of the year.
But when I got there, I knew almost instantly that I had made the right choice. Being a senior, it is pretty sad that this was my first time being on a college campus and in a way, I am glad it was. That just made my day that much memorable.
We started off the conference with an opening "meet and greet" session, at least that is what I called it. A few of the different speakers and professors who were running the conference introduced themselves and talked a little bit about what it was all about. Not to long after that began was it time to break up and find our designated rooms.
Previously I had signed up for two discussions to go to. The first was "Getting it right: Journalism Ethics" I had signed up for this workshop because I have always been interested in ethics, so i wanted to learn about how ethics ties into journalism. I most definitely did, and I learned so much more then expected. As I have said in my most recent blog entry, the Professor Jerry Dunklee is a really cool dude.
Once it was time to move to the next workshop, I, along with a fellow classmate, Maddie, decided to go to "Literary journalism: Fictional Techniques to make Reporting Sparkle. Unfortunately, this workshop had no sparkle. We then moved on from workshop to workshop until we finally found one that we felt would provide us with the valuable information that we wanted to get. "All you need to know about journalism" was very informational and both Maddie and I learned a lot and got a lot out of it. One of the things she said that really stuck with me was "From here on out, it is all a competition."
We finished off the session with a keynote speaker, Rob Parker. He is a famous sports reported who graduated from Southern. He told all of us to keep dreaming and to never give up because we can do it. He was a very inspirational speaker who said "If you fall down and bump your head you can always get up and keep going."
In conclusion, this day was more then worth it and I am extremely happy that I decided to go and I hope something like this comes up again before this semester ends.
But when I got there, I knew almost instantly that I had made the right choice. Being a senior, it is pretty sad that this was my first time being on a college campus and in a way, I am glad it was. That just made my day that much memorable.
We started off the conference with an opening "meet and greet" session, at least that is what I called it. A few of the different speakers and professors who were running the conference introduced themselves and talked a little bit about what it was all about. Not to long after that began was it time to break up and find our designated rooms.
Previously I had signed up for two discussions to go to. The first was "Getting it right: Journalism Ethics" I had signed up for this workshop because I have always been interested in ethics, so i wanted to learn about how ethics ties into journalism. I most definitely did, and I learned so much more then expected. As I have said in my most recent blog entry, the Professor Jerry Dunklee is a really cool dude.
Once it was time to move to the next workshop, I, along with a fellow classmate, Maddie, decided to go to "Literary journalism: Fictional Techniques to make Reporting Sparkle. Unfortunately, this workshop had no sparkle. We then moved on from workshop to workshop until we finally found one that we felt would provide us with the valuable information that we wanted to get. "All you need to know about journalism" was very informational and both Maddie and I learned a lot and got a lot out of it. One of the things she said that really stuck with me was "From here on out, it is all a competition."
We finished off the session with a keynote speaker, Rob Parker. He is a famous sports reported who graduated from Southern. He told all of us to keep dreaming and to never give up because we can do it. He was a very inspirational speaker who said "If you fall down and bump your head you can always get up and keep going."
In conclusion, this day was more then worth it and I am extremely happy that I decided to go and I hope something like this comes up again before this semester ends.
Monday, October 27, 2008
Jerry! Jerry! Jerry!
Last Friday, October 24th, Mr. Miller took some of the students from our class and a few students from the school who are very interested in journalism on a flied trip for a day. the trip wasn't too far. we went to a high school journalism day at a local Connecticut college.
While we were there, i was honored to be able to listen to one of the professors teach us all about journalism ethics. Professor Jerry Dunklee, a journalism professor at SCSU, is one of the most unique men i have ever met. he used his own way of teaching to ask us the answers, and sometimes even ask us what the questions are to get his point across. i have yet to come across any teachers like that so far in my almost 13 years of education. He is just one of those people that can get your attention by just saying "hello" and then you are stuck and you don't want to stop listening to what he is saying.
On top of how great of a educator he is, this man is also hilarious. Professor Dunklee talked in a manor that was extremely amusing to his audience. He used the phrase "Brother from another mother!" which one could say got the large crowd laughing. yes, including teachers and advisers. However, he can say the type of things that can really get you thinking about who you are.
"There are some students who should say 'just shut up and get out of our way'". That made me wish i could be one of those students, one of those students who just get it, everything clicks, who knew what they were doing and don't need be be told how to complete an assignment in many different ways. Unfortunately, it takes me awhile to comprehend something, but once i do finally get it i get the ball rolling and understand something enough to write about it.
SCSU is one of the colleges that i plan on applying to for next year, after meeting Professor Jerry Dunklee, It made me want to go there even more.
While we were there, i was honored to be able to listen to one of the professors teach us all about journalism ethics. Professor Jerry Dunklee, a journalism professor at SCSU, is one of the most unique men i have ever met. he used his own way of teaching to ask us the answers, and sometimes even ask us what the questions are to get his point across. i have yet to come across any teachers like that so far in my almost 13 years of education. He is just one of those people that can get your attention by just saying "hello" and then you are stuck and you don't want to stop listening to what he is saying.
On top of how great of a educator he is, this man is also hilarious. Professor Dunklee talked in a manor that was extremely amusing to his audience. He used the phrase "Brother from another mother!" which one could say got the large crowd laughing. yes, including teachers and advisers. However, he can say the type of things that can really get you thinking about who you are.
"There are some students who should say 'just shut up and get out of our way'". That made me wish i could be one of those students, one of those students who just get it, everything clicks, who knew what they were doing and don't need be be told how to complete an assignment in many different ways. Unfortunately, it takes me awhile to comprehend something, but once i do finally get it i get the ball rolling and understand something enough to write about it.
SCSU is one of the colleges that i plan on applying to for next year, after meeting Professor Jerry Dunklee, It made me want to go there even more.
Thursday, October 23, 2008
Themes Of The Week...
Have you ever had those days when everything seems to be playing off of each other? that everything is a theme? recently for me, that has been happening. it seems like everything that i am learning, reading, or over hearing can somehow blend in perfectly to something i thought earlier. even throughout a week i will have encounters extremely similar to the next. i have decided that these are going to be my themes of the week...
Friday, September 19, 2008
Using Blogger
Using blogger is not a new deal for me. i was honored enough to have Mr. miller last year for public speaking where we used blogger to write about our speeches and how we can improve. having this blog for public speaking gave me a place to write about the speeches i gave therefore letting me realize what i have done wrong and what i can do better. now that i have Mr. miller again i can know use this blog for 21st century journalism i can have a place for my writing.
Blogging is great to use in school because it is a place to put work. Instead of using a portfolio for a class, that could easily be lost or damaged, the work could be done online and posted onto the students blog. Blog are safe and school friendly because using last names and putting in any information about yourself is optional. Using a blog gives other students a chance to see examples of work already completed and get an ideas from it.
Because blogs can be seen by anyone, other people can read the work done on the blog and comment on it and express their own ideas. that will give students the chance to hear other peoples opinions rather then the single opinion of the teacher.
Blogging is great to use in school because it is a place to put work. Instead of using a portfolio for a class, that could easily be lost or damaged, the work could be done online and posted onto the students blog. Blog are safe and school friendly because using last names and putting in any information about yourself is optional. Using a blog gives other students a chance to see examples of work already completed and get an ideas from it.
Because blogs can be seen by anyone, other people can read the work done on the blog and comment on it and express their own ideas. that will give students the chance to hear other peoples opinions rather then the single opinion of the teacher.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
