- We proclaim by our lives even more than our words that God is good.
- We honor the dignity and sacredness of each person.
- We educate for and act on behalf of justice and peace in the world.
- We commit ourselves to community service.
- We embrace the gift of diversity.
- We create community among those with whom we work and with those we serve.
- We develop holistic learning communities which educate for life.
2) By taking this course, I have honored and continue the honor dignity and sacredness of the Latino community at my church. The community engagement aspect gave me the final push that I needed to fully honor and embrace the dignity and sacredness of those at my church. I always contemplated serving in church, but never had the drive to do so. By taking this course, I was forced into doing it (if I wanted to fail the class) and I ended up liking it. NDNU has also allowed me to be considered for a mentorship program to team up with professors that teach freshmen seminar so I can develop a relationship and community with the freshmen class. Creating community and honoring different people of different ethnic backgrounds and ages. This skill will help me in my future career as a medical doctor. I am considering becoming a Pediatric Oncologist and it is important for me to be able to handle different personalities, ages, and ethnicities. I need to learn being patient and how to work under pressure.
3) The first issue that arose was time commitment and motivation. I had to really push myself to get ready for church and to do my job. I was a little nervous to start watching the kids because I don't speak Spanish fluently and when I do, I get nervous and mess up. But, when I got the courage to be consistent, I developed friendships with the kids and the staff. I became accustomed to the routine and even started giving advice on how to make it better. There was an incident when I was watching the kids. A woman who was visiting our church was checking her kids in to the daycare before heading to the Spanish service. She came with her sister and must have had a mental breakdown or disability and had an episode. She began yelling where all the kids were and the staff and myself had to act fast to get the kids in one room and securely lock down the facility until the head pastor and law enforcement arrived to calm her down and get her away from the daycare. We were not trained in these types of situations. We haven't thought to anticipate such an incident occurring since it is a church. It took efficiency, maturity, and strategy to act quickly to protect the children. It is our duty to protect the children and their parents trust that we will do anything to keep them out of harms way. It took a lot of patience to deal with the children and their curiosity of what was going on and why they were locked down in one room. We had to all make sure we gave the same answers and put on activities that would shift the kids' minds elsewhere. Our job is to protect the children, teach them The Word of God, and maintain the peace. It made me think about how anything can happen anywhere in the world, even church. As a doctor, I will have to protect the children health wise and physically.
4) I have yet to use what I learned in this class, my political science classes, and my history classes in the outside world. The closest thing to using what I learned in class, outside of school was during the elections. I was educating my parents and family members about our right to vote, impeachment, and legislation. It gave me motivation to pay even more attention in class and to have confidence in my academia because I was able to educate my family about social justice and basic rights. I cannot determine necessarily whether or not the Reflection-Action-Reflection model of the classroom has any impact on social engagement. If a student is the type of person who does not value social justice then maybe this class would be better for them to instill those values into them.
5) I define diversity in terms of ethnicity, age, sex, sexual preference, academic level, academic subjects, social class, and political preference. The challenges of embracing diversity at NDNU is because of its catholic values. They banned the LGBT club because it is against the Bible's teachings. But, studying political science and history from professors of diverse backgrounds have allowed me to appreciate and embrace diversity. My major mates aren't all from the States as some are from out of the country which has given me a profound appreciation for diversity. Embracing diversity is essential to protecting the human race and the Earth as a whole. The more educated you are and the more you embrace diversity, the more empathetic and driven you are to make the world a better place.
6) I have a strong community with the students and professors of the History and Political Science department at NDNU. I met them through the various classes we take. Most of us have the same exact schedules every semester because we take the same history and political science courses. We as major mates have benefitted from these interactions. We have benefitted by establishing study groups and lifting each other up when we feel like we are falling and failing. The professors also benefit from our sense of community. It helps them better advise us and learn how to teach us and nurture our strengths and develop strategies to overcome our weaknesses. I have developed this community with them. We can relate on a level that other majors cannot. Our concerns are the same and our conversations are similar.
7) By doing community engagement for this class, I have gotten back on track with my faith and my faith is even stronger than before. By being more spiritual and learning the Word of God, I have been able to teach children from a young age the Word and foster a community that works towards a just society. I am better able to utilize my Spanish speaking skills, I have more patience for children, I am prepared for multiple incidents and plans, and I am able to better care for children ranging from newborn to 10 years old. I will apply these skills to be prepared for anything my education as I am going to declare and third major and I will use the other half of the skills as a doctor.
