Costa Rica (S'12): Week 9

Before spring break I met with a person in the study abroad office about my interest is becoming fluent in Spanish.  I had done a little research to see how much it would cost and looking at some of the course descriptions prior to the meeting, but because I am in grad school I had a lot of questions how I would go about applying.  Although I am pretty much dedicated to going I felt that I would be losing ties that I have with family and friends, but I would be gaining another language to communicate in along with a wealth of an experience to remember with new friends and a new sense of culture.  After my visit, to the study abroad office, I received the clarity I needed to go forth with to solidify my decision.   Now all I have to do is go through the process of applying as a grad student and defending why I feel that it is important/relevant to study abroad to get funding.  I plan on going to Costa Rica in spring 2011.

            This week we read, ”Learning language for work and life: The linguistic socialization of immigrant Canadians seeking careers in healthcare,” and it was a good read because I was able to get a heads up on how I would feel as an immigrant (per se) to Costa Rica having to learn Spanish to be able to be successful.  The article surprised me because once the immigrant settlement agency (ISA) group worked in the hospital they learned that their acquisition of English wasn’t needed in the urban hospital and they needed to learn different ways to communicate via nonverbal communication and pick up the language they were unfamiliar with through their peers and residents.

            This realization made e realize although I will be taught Spanish I have to learn how to communicate nonverbally to be more successful.  Often times I think of verbal language as the only way of communicating so when I overlooked it, it shocked me at how important nonverbal communication is to get a message across.  Although I may not be able to quickly acquire the Spanish language I feel that I will be able to get around in so facet, which put me to ease.

            Another interesting aspect of the study that I found was that the cultural difference between the cohort and the status that they wanted to achieve caused conflict between their cultures.  Many of the women in the study, whom were married, reported that their husbands did not want them to pursue an education because it was not the norm of their culture, but then the women wanted to have better pay in a field they are familiar with, so education was the way towards it.  The status they were moving towards valued independence and education, while it appeared their culture valued women to be focused on the family, which decreased the likelihood off women pursuing education.  Although I am not a woman, they faced challenges that they did not expect, which made me think about what challenges am I going to be faced with that I can’t phantom until I set foot in Costa Rica?

After reading the article, I was excited in the challenge of having to learn Spanish in a Spanish speaking country with few opportunities to speak English in the community.  Although I may not have a heads up on the challenges coming my way I am excited to take them on.  Hopefully by August I will have everything in order and ready to come January.

Afritics: week 7

This week we read DeLany and Roger’s (2004) article, “Black women's leadership and learning:  From politics to afritics in the context of community.”  Although I never heard of the term afritics I readily identified with the term as I felt that it was an accurate description of how not just black women, but the black community in large.  One concept in particular that stood out to me was “that the leadership level and educational advancement they earned were not end goals… but a means to fulfilling their advocacy responsibilities” (103).  I’ve heard many of black peers wanting to get into their respective fields as a route to give back to the community, whether it was related to their field or not.  The article made the connection of how the family upbringing fosters black women to give back to the community.  My family taught me to give back by giving me money to tithe in church and advising that I should share.   A common thing my family taught me was if I was cooking for myself was to ask if anyone wanted something to eat.  So from the time I started cooking I cooked for my brother who is five years older than me because he rarely cooked.  Although it annoyed me from time to time, I understood the importance of looking out for others, because someone would look out for me.  Through the years I learned that in some way or form what I do has long lasting effects on others and myself.  Although I may not be able to trace how I became how I am, everything that I do has an effect on me in ways that I’m not aware of.

Being contempt

Week 6

This week I commented on how I got to know God better after graduating from school, but I didn’t say how I had certain things taken away.  School, friends, the city of Memphis, and other communities/responsibilities I had while attending school.  It wasn’t until when I had little to do that I could focus on pursuing the word.  My last year of undergrad (S’ 09) I felt in my heart that I should be reading the word for myself, but I would always think my way out of it saying that I have more pressing things to do.  When I graduated I focused on working full time to pay for grad school over the summer and fall, but in the spring I didn’t have a full time job and since I already took the GRE “I had time” to do what I wanted to do, which is read the word.  But I was still writing essays to apply for the U of M until February so it wasn’t until after that that I started getting into the word.  When I began reading I wondered why I didn’t do this earlier, but I was glad to have gotten started.  I didn’t know where to start nor did I care, I figured I would get to a passage and it would make sense to my life in some way.  So I just read and reflected and realized that the reason I didn’t read earlier was because I didn’t think I needed to because my life wasn’t in turmoil as I would compare myself to others thinking that well my life isn’t as bad as such and such.  

By comparing what I was doing to others when I should have just worried about what I do and how I could influence others, either the wrong way or in a better way.  Matthews 7:3-5 And why do you look at the speck in your brother’s eye, but do not consider the plank in you own eye? 4 Or how can you say to your brother, “Let me remove the speck from your eye”; and look, a plank is in your own eye?  6 Hypocrite! First remove the plank from your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.  After I read that passage I realized that I’m blinding myself by comparing my life to others when really I should be living my own life because living in faith isn’t about beating or being better than others, it’s about being the best you you can be and you can’t be you if you’re comparing your life to someone else’s.  Matthews 7:13-14 Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it.  14 Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it.  I was leading myself down the broad gate of destruction by comparing myself to others I was around and not those in the word.  Although I do then what I do now, I didn’t have the mindset that I have now.  I didn’t see how the challenges I faced in route to the narrow gate strengthened me and acted as a footstool with the clarity I developed.  I didn’t realize how by having limits set by the commandments made my life easier rather than more difficult, because it was something I couldn’t do.  However by being more critical of my thinking my life has been made easier when things are taken away, living within guidelines and limits rather than wants and desires, led to peace of heart and mind once I started reading and taking in the word.  It’s funny because at the time that I only had a part time job and didn’t go to school I felt like I wasn’t going anywhere in my life, but now I see that being in motion isn’t always the best.  One can be blindly walking the wrong way thinking they are going the right way because they follow the crowd believing that they know what’s right.  Blindly trusting those around them to do the right thing, when what they really need to do is take a step back and think for a second, avoid moving, and then act on what they know is right.  Because Luke 11:28 blessed are those who hear the word of God and obey it and Proverbs 14:12 there is a way that seems right to man, but its end is the way of death.  So I follow my heart and not the patterns of this world so life I live is the life of the few.