Service, Date and Time

  In the almost two years that I have been a student I have learned that a big aspect of the Jesuit education is diversity and the importance of accepting those who differ from you. They want everyone to feel welcome and that they play an important part in the student population, no matter where they are from or their background. Baltimore is such a diverse city, and we as students from Loyola who may not be from a town with much diversity are so fortunate to have the opportunity to experience this community. Because Baltimore is home to people of many different backgrounds, people who live here might not get the feeling that they are different or that they don’t belong. In the book Date and Time, Kaye starts the book off by saying that his family was embarrassed of their mixed backgrounds and conformed to society by putting their traditions and culture away. Their community was obviously not very open to accepting the fact that they were a mixed family, and the stress and embarrassment eventually led to the demise of his family. Kaye expresses his desire to be able to embrace his culture. It brings up the question if Kaye had grown up in a city like Baltimore, would his family have been proud of their mixed cultures and be excited to pass down traditions to Kaye and his sister. 

  

  I am an elementary education major, and in the course of the four semesters that I have been taking education classes, I have had the opportunity to go to two different schools in Baltimore and observe classes. At the first school I observed, which was Gwynns Falls Elementary, the demographic of students is 99% African American. Although I did observe some diversity in a sense that this was a new environment for me, I did not experience much diversity amongst the students. Most of these kids have a similar background and their home environment is the same, so they all could relate to each other. It was a great experience for me because teaching is really a passion for me, and I’ve known this since I was very little. That is why I chose Bridges for my service track. I want to be able to help students in whatever way I can and give them a resource to succeed in their academics, just as I did. I’m excited to be able to work with a variety of students, because every student excels or struggles in different subjects. Their learning styles are different too, do I am excited to try out different ways to help them.