Part 5: "The Small Work in the Great Work" by Victoria Safford

In her essay, Safford opens by telling an anecdote about a young Native Indian girl who overcame a hostile and racist crowd at a basketball game by performing a traditional Lakota Indian dance and song.  Safford then goes into the idea of standing up and taking initiative, something that takes a great deal of courage.  Connecting this gay rights, Safford speaks about the courage and risk taken in pride parades and identifying oneself as who you truly are.  Finally, Safford goes into 9/11 and how when a group feels let down it takes a lot of courage to sort through and produce the appropriate responses.

Safford collects these stories to show the importance of courage in the grand scheme of things.  As her title indicates, "The Small Work in the Great Work," it is small moments of action that can make a huge difference in the big picture.  As RA's we can use this lesson in our daily lives when we work with our residents.  Even small actions, from studying with someone in the library to having lunch with someone, can make a huge impact on the overall freshmen experience of our residents.  By taking the time and effort to make this courageous moments happen, we can make our residents have a much more beneficial and positive experience throughout the year.

Part 4: "Do Not Go Gentle" by Sherman Alexie

In his account “Do Not Go Gentle” of his baby son’s brush with death, Sherman Alexie writes beautifully about worrying like crazy about his son, and how he learned to conquer this psychological suffering. His beautiful prose shows the powerlessness he felt in the fact of death and grief, for “Mr. Grief was a billionaire. He could afford to check on our baby every six hours” (163). Alexie describes how he sees himself and others being crushed under the weight of grief: he shouts at his wife because he “saw Mr. Grief hiding behind her eyes” (164), and other parents in the hospital spit ugly emotions of cruelty and sad envy because their children are terminally ill. At last he decides to fight Mr. Grief in a showdown to the end, and he and his wife the power of a dildo—Chocolate Thunder—to battle grief, dispelling the staleness of the sick children’s hospital stays and the hopelessness their parents had succumbed to. He proclaims that “we all were sick and tired of waiting for our babies to die” (167), so he, his wife, and Chocolate Thunder finally emerge victorious with both their baby and the magic of belief in their arms.

Sherman Alexie’s story moved me greatly—not only for the profound and personal nature of his writing, but also because of how vulnerable he makes himself in his retelling of this frightening time. The way he describes grief as someone who is actively working against him shows how he personified the feeling inside him and his wife, giving it agency by surrendering his own power. He also describes how much of his power is derived from his Native American background, for his wife is “magic like a grandmother, and Indian grandmothers aren’t afraid of a little man like Mr. Grief,” and it is she who first brandishes Chocolate Thunder like a magic wand. This story shows two things that compose part of the RA role: providing support to our residents especially in times of desperate need like this, but also equipping them with the tools and creativity to combat such pain. We as RAs are famous for being good listeners, so we provide passive support in that way. We also serve as sources of advice and experiential wisdom, as well as knowledge resources for finding things like CAPS, SSAs, etc. Finally, we also should encourage our residents to share their own stories with us and with others for two reasons: they gain deep connections with those whom they trust enough to listen, and they learn much more about their inner feelings and residual conflicts through reflecting on the experience and retelling it.

Part 3: "The Sukkah of Shalom" by Arthur Wallace

In “The Sukkah of Shalom” by Arthur Wallace, the author talks about his wish for the United States to hold a national sukkot after 9/11, in order to reflect and learn through this Jewish tradition of a one-week period of prayer and introspection. The sukkot, consisting of a small hut with a vulnerable roof made of leaves, reminds its observers that we are all vulnerable, and therefore impels us to learn as much as we can from every experience in order to make our community stronger. By participating in this annual time of reflection, the author comes to recognize that “however much and in whatever way I love my neighbor, that will turn out to be the way I love myself. If I pour contempt upon my neighbor, hatred will recoil upon me” (107). He identifies this as part of the cause for the United States experiencing 9/11 and being a target for hatred—as retribution for the anger and destruction it has wreaked on other countries. Hence, he proposes a period of national introspection and coming-together to recognize what has happened, in a rational manner. Similarly, as RAs we want our residents to become equipped with the tools to reflect on their own choices and forge personal strength and growth in their own lives. This is the first-year goal of “hav[ing] had ongoing opportunities to process the behavioral cycle of action, impact and reflection as it plays out in their lives.” Our job as RAs is to encourage the residents to build their own mental sukkot (or possibly physical, if they’re up for an arts-and-crafts project) and partake in introspection, as well as help build some sukkah (plural of sukkot) when the issue they’re reflecting on requires some wisdom of experience or extra help, or simply when they want the valued perspective of their RA. J

Part 2: "The Dark Years" by Nelson Mandela

In “The Dark Years,” Nelson Mandela shares his experiences from being a political prisoner for 27 years before finally becoming the first democratically elected president of South Africa and leading his country to end apartheid. He recounts the hardships of the Robben Island prison in particular, and how he and his compatriots asserted their personal dignity and the ideals of their human rights movement in the face of their challenges. For example, when they are required to fill a bucket with rocks from mining, he and his colleagues do not submit to the impossibly increasing demands by the guards to try to break their spirits, but instead they set their own pace and maintain power over their conditions. Mandela also talks about how his goals in prison were not only to free himself and his fellow political prisoners, but also to free the hearts and minds of their opponents, for he knows that “the oppressor must be liberated just as surely as the oppressed.”

In writing this, Mandela expresses the universal truth (and something I believed without expressing it in words before) that, “A man who takes away another man’s freedom is a prisoner of hatred.” Indeed, a major reason for fighting for equality is not only to achieve equality, but also to create open minds to diversity, open hearts to appreciation of all human beings, because it is so painful to base your beliefs on the idea that a certain group is inferior and unworthy of love, or to live your life believing that you must hate certain people simply for being who they are. This relates to our role as RAs in exposing our residents to new experiences and new ideas, while at the same time fostering healthy, constructive discussions especially when residents’ opinions or perspectives collide. To achieve our goal of “hav[ing] opportunities to engage with peers in complex, challenging topics in a supportive, non-judgmental residential environment,” we RAs act as mediators to not only encourage the sharing of viewpoints, but also to keep the conversation civil, and to remind everyone just how lucky we are to be able to see such diverse opinions. I am always impressed by the diversity in thought I have encountered at CMU: every year I meet people with opinions informed from completely different backgrounds, or with viewpoints of totally different philosophies. It is a blessing to receive so many new ideas, and it’s my duty to pass this opportunity on to my residents in this rare chance in their lives to talk to and grow with people from all over the world.

Part 4: "Childhood and Poetry" by Pablo Neruda

In Pablo Neruda's short essay, he speaks about an experience he had as a child in his backyard.  One day while looking through the fence surrounding his house, he saw a boy like himself who reached out and handed him a toy sheep.  The boy quickly disappeared, so Neruda brought a treasure of his own, and left he boy a small gift in the same spot.  Though Neruda never again saw the boy, he kept the gift for the res of his life.

From this experience as a child, Neruda says that he learned one of the greatest lessons about life, that is the appreciation and affection from another person, especially someone that you do not know.  This ultimately brought Neruda to the idea that all of humanity is greater than the individual and that we are all somehow connected.  For this reason, Neruda spent much of his adult life leaving words to people he did not personally know, showing care for all people of the human race.

As RA's, I think we have a responsibility to show care for our residents and the people around us.  We have all been through semesters at CMU, and I'm sure we've all experienced those times when you're just so overwhelmed with all the work you have and everything that's going on, that sometimes all you need is someone to show that you're not alone in this.  It's important to show our residents that we're here for them and care about their experiences.  It will make a huge difference in the freshmen experience of our residents, but also, it will create a community where our residents can learn to care about each other and their friends instead of going at it alone.  It is important that we create a community of friends who encourage each other's goals, instead of a community of individuals.

I love the olympics!

Hi Guys!

I saw Batman as well (at midnight here in Pittsburgh!). I liked it but that may have been in part due to the fact that I'm slightly obsessed with Joseph Gordon-Levitt. I think seeing it in Pittsburgh was also fun because everyone cheered when different Pittsburgh things were shown.

I'm just back in Pittsburgh after a quick trip to Utah for my cousins wedding. The wedding was up in the mountains and absolutely beautiful! It was also really awesome to see my family since I have been away from them for most of the summer.

Now that I'm back, it's time to pack! I'll be moving back into the Rez..wait for it...TOMORROW! I can't believe that the summer is coming to a close so quickly but I really cannot wait for the year to start. All of the excitement from our residents on the facebook group has been contagious and I'm so pumped for the year ahead.

I just wanted to thank you guys so much for the work that you've put in over the summer. From responding to residents questions, to posting on the blog- you've all already done a great job. All I can say is keep it up :) For those of us who are not so great at posting (me) let's just make sure to have all of the essay posts up by RA training. I am ok with the essays being a bit shorter than what we have done so far- we just want to have enough interesting points to talk from about the summer reading once we are all back for training.

Can't wait to see you all soon!

Lindsay

Hellllloooooo

I hope summer is ending well for everyone. I enjoyed mine. Today is my last day of work, and tomorrow I leave to go to Los Angeles for 5 days. I remember the feeling I had when I was on the plane going back to California in May like it was yesterday. All of a sudden it's my last night in the Bay Area! This summer went by faster than any other. That's probably because I was so busy.

Speaking of being busy, I need to get reading. I’m way behind with my posts. I’ve had the busiest two months of my life, so I’m excited for a little bit of free time this coming week to get caught up on life.

I’m ready to get back on campus and in the swing of things. I’m looking forward to training and orientation and I’ll see everyone in about a week! :)

And also reply to Jaime, I saw DKR. I liked it, but not as much as the last one. Heath Ledger’s acting as the Joker can never be beaten!

Wooooooooo see you all sooooooon!

Ian