One Little Girl

I just finished the book Singing Songs by Meg Tilly.  I never realized how much one person's thoughts and ideas could so fully affect my life.  

Singing Songs tells the story of a young girl, Anna, who is raised in a less than ideal home.  Her and her sisters are sexually abused; her brothers are beaten, and no one steps forward to stop it.  These kids are left to defend themselves with the one goal in mind- staying alive.  

In the second semester of my freshman year in college, I declared myself as a Family Science major.  What can I do with that major? That's always this question I hear from everyone as they stare at me with a quizzical expression.  I was recently labeled as "one of those people". And by those he meant, I'm not the student you find at 4 am still beating out my research paper or the student in the chemistry lab for hours on end mixing chemicals and spilling acid on myself.  He meant that I won't have to work as hard in college to earn my degree.

One of my friends declared a major because he thought it made him sound smart.  He knew it was going to be hard and that he was smart enough to get through it, but where's the passion in sheer ability?  I know I'm capable of earning any degree. I just want this one.

I didn't choose Family Science for the easy tests or the lack of chemistry classes (although I'm sure my lab partner from high school is glad I'm dodging any class where I could light someone on fire again). I choose my major because when I finish books like Singing Songs, there is a heart-wrenching pain that boils up from the pit of my stomach!  It makes me completely nauseous, and I would give anything to change that one little girl's life even when I fully understand it's just a fictional story.  I always wonder where the inspiration for such a story came from. Was there a little girl who went through the same challenges as Anna? or was it a combination of hundreds of children's lives?  

It's when things make you so sick you can't sit still, you can't stand by and watch it happen over and over again.  It's when there's an overwhelming pain in your heart, that you know you have to stop it; you have to do something to make someone else's life just a little better!

I'm not slacking off.  I'm saving the world- one little girl at a time.

A Colorful World

Singing along to Disney songs during "dead week" is by far my favorite past time. Disney movies have this magical ability to steal me away from my present activities and take me to all parts of the world. Lion King....I'm  chillin' with a warthog and meerkat in Africa. Aladdin...flying over the Middle East on a magic carpet, and in the Aristocats I'm wandering through the French countryside. Classic Disney movies are set all over the world! Children don't have to stay in their American suburbs; they can go anywhere.
Unfortunately, now that I'm older, I'm beginning to see flaws in my beloved childhood movies.  Has anyone else noticed almost all Disney characters sound American? Very few have any sort of accent! The only thing that seems to hint at all about the setting is the background and clothing (if the character are in fact human!).
As a blossoming college student, I am intrigued by different cultures.  I love hearing different accents and learning about others' beliefs and traditions.  Nothing excites me more than when I walk into my first classes and see people of at least five different ethnicities sitting together in the front row.  I love seeing everyone together--sharing their lives and thoughts with each other.
I often feel like media (whether movies, books, or music) are not completing one of their main goals--cultural transmission.  The world seems to keep getting smaller and smaller.  Everyone seems to be adopting the same culture--the same culture that's being reflected in nearly all the media. It saddens me that the world is losing so much of its color, its zest and flavor! God didn't make us all different so we could conform.  We're different because that's what makes life so interesting and enjoyable! People are the most exciting part of life!
Breathe in the different cultures of the world like a breath of fresh air!
Notice the diversity in the people around you and be inspired!
Life is thrilling! Embrace every aspect of it!

What Are You Really Doing

I need to be involved. I need to step in and stop it.

I always feel this way when I encounter evil in the world around me.  I want to be directly involved and stop the violence. I've always wondered how journalists could stand in the middle of a riot in a war-torn country and not do anything to help the people around them.  Well one of the students who contributed to the book, The Freedom Writers Diary by the Freedom Writers with Erin Gruwell, felt the same way.  When listening to their guest speaker, Peter Maass who was a war correspondent during the Bosnian War, the student stood up and boldly asked the same question that has been running through my mind all this time.  His response was this:

"He wasn't letting evil prevail by watching and doing nothing.  By writing about the images he saw in Sarajevo, he was ensuring that no one would deny that ethnic cleansing was taking place, and that thousands of innocent men were being taken to their deaths." - The Freedom Writers Diary 

Maass wasn't standing by letting it happen.  He had his own way of fighting the violence of this world.  He used his writing to fight back and never let anyone forget that it happened.  Each person has a place and a purpose in this world.  It's not always one's place to be in the action stopping the violence. I've learned that sometimes, like journalists, we have a different job. Our job whatever it is is not insignificant or less important than any other job however. Every person works together in some way to make a difference.

Not Me but You

I am a worrier.  Full on out constant worrying about everything from my classes to the legacy I'm going to leave behind in this world. But more than anything I worry about others.  I worry if they're unhappy or if their lives seem to be torn to shreds and spiraling down the drain. It literally breaks my heart to see anyone in pain, emotional or physical.  More than worried, I am overwhelmingly compassionate.  God has always taken care of me.  I travel through valleys and over mountains but where ever I am in my life, God has always held my hand through everything.  Now, I just have to trust in him to hold others' hands.  I can only help and comfort them so much before I just need to leave it to God.  He is the comforter and healer.  Only he truly knows their hearts and what they need at each moment.