Happy New Year!

It's been so long since I've been on here, they changed all of xanga and I couldn't figure out how in the world to post a new entry.

I feel as if I should explain myself: I write no longer because a) I've stopped seeing the point of doing so, and b) there's not much I can write about any more due to my new grown up job.

Part of me wants to just erase this whole thing, but the pack rat/ emotionally attached part of me can't bear to let it go. This xanga page and I have been through a lot together. I remember when I started writing as a little freshman in college, decking the page out in Wheaton colors, and writing to let my family, who was 12,000 miles away, know I was doing ok.

Now I'm done with school altogether. I've grown up a lot; I've learned more than I could have ever imagined. And I'm right where I want to be. I've got my whole life in front of me and I'm oddly optimistic. I must mention though, I attribute my new found optimism to Andy Lance, a neighbor of ours from Thailand whose premature and tragic death made me reevaluate my outlook on life. He may have died at 23, but he lived his life to the fullest to the glory of God and I want to live a life like he did.

I have a job in one of THE coolest places ever and the dream of working on Capitol Hill has finally become a reality. And pretty soon I hope to be living in Washington, DC. And it's finally spring so there's plenty to be thankful for =). God is good!

I guess all that to say, good-bye xanga. (at least until we have reason to meet again...like when I move to France, or travel the world for a year, or get married...haha it'll probably be a while if ever).

Currently Watching Ratatouille By Ian Holm see related

The grades are in!!

I didn't ruin my gpa this semester. Woot!! I got an...

A in Spanish

A in French

A- in Foreign Policy

And I already knew I had an A- in social dance and B+ in Senior Seminar because those classes ended way back in october. So yay, I achieved my goal of a 3.5 gpa...I actually exceeded my goal: Cumulative gpa: 3.6. I am very pleased with myself.

Now to find a job...a completely different story..... =/

Currently Watching Grey's Anatomy - The Complete Third Season By Ellen Pompeo, Patrick Dempsey see related

Life Update...

1. I'm a college graduate...woot!

2. I got published in the record.

3. I officially live in MD once more.

4. I still haven't found a job, although a Senate leadership office on the Hill wants to interview me for an internship position (ie unpaid).

5. It still hasn't hit me that I'm not going back to Wheaton in three weeks...

9 days...

I had to edit my piece on race I wrote for The Record. I'm still not sure if they're going to run it, but here it is. They wanted it to be less personal, as in they didn't want me to use the word "I" very often. I found it difficult to edit seeing as my point was that I don't want to speak on behalf of a group of people, only for myself, but hopefully the point will still come across....

Comments??

A Reflection on Solidarity [revised]

I was apprehensive going into Solidarity week. I’m not always comfortable with the way race issues are discussed on this campus and while I appreciate the attempts by Solidarity for awareness and racial reconciliation, the main problem has not been addressed only reinforced.

The biggest issue when speaking about race is how quick we are to put people into racial categories. We put people in boxes. We talk about race and how white people act, black people view issues, or Hispanics feel about a specific topic, instead of speaking about individuals.

What I’m going to say next is nothing revolutionary. I’m sure we can all agree, but I feel it needs to be said—there is nothing inherently different about people because of the color of their skin. We are all created in the image of God. We are all human beings. We all have the capacity to think and feel and act. We go wrong when we think that race makes us think, feel or act in a specific way.

Even I have found myself thinking this way about myself. I am Latina. Society expects me to think, feel and act a certain way. I do not fit their mold.

There was a point when I felt the need to defend my own belief system. So, I began to call myself a coconut (brown on the outside, but white on the inside). At first it was a joke, but then I got upset about having to define myself in this way. The fact of the matter is that I’m an individual. Individuals have the freedom to believe and think however they want. They should not have to defend those beliefs because they contradict preconceived notions of what their “color” says they should believe.

I appreciated Solidarity’s Redeeming White Privilege talk, but in the end it simply became a call to hang out with people of color, as if they were a radically different group. Yet everyone on this campus is different in one way or another. We can all learn from each other regardless of race. Yes, some of our differences are cultural and maybe some even line up with the color of our skin. But the assumption that one can learn more from people of color is blatantly false and only serves to reinforce the belief that thought and action are influenced by race.

So where do we go from here? The first step is to dismantle this way of thinking. This is difficult; even I find myself categorizing people and have to make a conscious effort not to. We need to be aware of how we think and we must treat all people, regardless of skin color, with dignity and respect.

What it comes down to is that we’re all people and we need to treat each other accordingly. No one should be singled out because they’re a minority. I don’t want to be asked what Hispanics think about immigration just because I’m Latina. I want people to hang out with me because I’m me, not because I’m a minority. The racial boxes we put each other into are in reality diverse groups of people who just happen to share the same skin color.

We must stop thinking of racial categories and start dealing with individuals if we want to see true racial reconciliation.

Below is a reflection on Solidarity week I have submitted to The Record (our campus newspaper). Solidarity is a week on campus meant to raise awareness about race issues and racial reconciliation.

The Record may or may not print this, but if I don't tell people how I feel I may just explode, so here it is:

A Reflection on Solidarity

I admit I was apprehensive going into Solidarity week. I’m not always comfortable with the way race issues are discussed on this campus and while I appreciate the attempts by Solidarity for awareness and racial reconciliation, I’m left feeling like the main problem has not been addressed, only reinforced.

My biggest issue with speaking about race is how quick we are to put people into racial categories. We talk about race and how white people act or black people view issues, or how Hispanics feel about a specific topic, instead of speaking about individuals.

What I’m going to say next is nothing revolutionary. I’m sure we can all agree, but I feel it needs to be said—there is nothing inherently different about people because of the color of their skin. We are all created in the image of God; we are all human beings; we all have the capacity to think and feel and act. And where we go wrong is in thinking that race makes us think, feel or act in a specific way.

I have most recently found myself thinking this way even about myself and the ideas and values that I hold dear. I am Latina. Society expects me to think, feel and act a certain way. I do not fit their mold.

I got to a point where I felt the need to defend my belief system. So, I began to call myself a coconut (because I’m brown on the outside and white on the inside). I joked around about it but then I got upset about having to define myself in this way because the fact of the matter is that I’m an individual. I have the freedom to believe and think however I want, and I should not have to defend those beliefs because they contradict preconceived notions of what my skin color says I should believe.

Regarding Solidarity, I appreciated the Redeeming White Privilege talk, but in the end it did not sit well with me because I felt it was a call to hang out with people of color, as if I were part of a radically different group. Each of us on this campus is different in one way or another and we can all learn from each other regardless of race. Yes, some of our differences are cultural and maybe some of those differences even line up with the color of our skin, but the assumption that one can learn more from people of color is blatantly false and only further reinforces the belief that thought and action are influenced by race.

So where do we go from here? Dismantling this way of thinking is difficult. Even I find myself categorizing people and having to make a conscious effort to stop. All I can say is that we need to be aware of how we think and we need to treat all people, regardless of skin color, with dignity and respect.

What it comes down to for me is that I’m a person and I would like to be treated like one. I don’t want to feel singled out because I’m a minority. I don’t want to be asked what Hispanics think about immigration. I don’t want to speak on behalf of a very diverse group of people who happen to share brown skin. I want people to hang out with me because I’m me, not because I’m a minority.

We need to stop thinking of racial categories and start dealing with individuals if we want to see true racial reconciliation.