Oakdale Neighbors

Living on campus in the dorms provides many opportunities to get involved in the Calvin community as well as the greater Grand Rapids community. In the hopes of connecting Calvin students with meaningful off-campus experiences and enabling students to serve their community, historically each Calvin dorm has been paired with a local organization for students to partner with. Serving one’s community with an attitude of learning and humility is called service-learning.

Senior Accounting major, Collette Brouwer, lived in Noordewier-VanderWerp Hall (NVW) her freshman and sophomore year. NVW’s partner is Oakdale Neighbors, a Christian community development organization. Oakdale Neighbors has many different opportunities to serve in the Oakdale community, two of which Collette participated in during her time in the dorms.

“Service learning changed my views about social justice, in placing the emphasis on humility anytime you’re helping people.”

Collette went to her dorm’s Community Partnerships Coordinator (CPC) to get connected with Oakdale Neighbors. Here Collette was part of an afterschool bike club where kids learned to take care of bikes and be responsible on the road. Collette worked as a camp counselor during the previous summer, so when school started in the fall she missed being around kids. That’s initially what got her interested in her dorm’s Service-Learning opportunity with Oakdale Neighbors. Collette loved being able to be around kids again in a meaningful way while also getting to do something fun like biking, “You never know what impact you’ll have on the kids' lives and I was surprised at the impact they had on my life.” 

As the months got colder, bike club went on pause and transitioned to an afterschool reading/tutoring program at Campus Elementary. Here Collette worked with elementary age kids everyday after school. She got to be with the same kids each day which enabled her to form meaningful relationships. Due to the after school hours, the environment was a relaxed one that allowed for Collette to have fun with the kids while also helping them with their school work.

“Service learning changed my views about social justice, in placing the emphasis on humility anytime you’re helping people.”

Service-learning is a great way to learn about your surroundings and to see your city in a new light. Collette mentioned how Service-Learning helped her understand the social issues affecting Grand Rapids in a way traditional learning wasn’t able to. Part of a liberal arts education is the ability to study all areas of interest. Service-Learning is a great opportunity to do something outside your major and learn in a different format than typical classroom learning. Collette remarked on how her time at Oakdale Neighbors changed how she viewed her major, “I’m an accounting major and I was so surprised how it changed the way I see accounting. Now I would love to be an accountant for a nonprofit one day.” 

College can be busy and overwhelming, but taking time out of each week to be of service to the people around you can be rejuvenating and can help provide a new perspective. Collette ended up filling the CPC role in her dorm the spring of her freshman year where she continued to serve at Oakdale neighbors as well as help connect other students in her dorm to service opportunities.

“I learned a lot about the city of Grand Rapids through Service-Learning, being connected to an organization, leaving campus, and entering the surrounding community. Calvin can be a bubble, college can even be a bubble, so it felt really healthy to leave campus to go hang out at an elementary school in the afternoons.”

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Oakdale Neighbors has faithfully been serving the community since 1996. This organization embodies the same philosophies towards service as Calvin’s Service-Learning Center. Oakdale Neighbors is an asset based community development organization that seeks to empower its residents through “discovering, developing, and connecting neighbors’ skills, and resources.” There are several different programs for local youth to get involved in including:

• Lamp Post Safety & Financial Literacy Program

• Learning Cafe’ (Youth Mentoring & Tutoring Program)

• Boston Square Community Bikes

• Comprenew Connect Computer Training

• Chess Club

• Treasure Hunt

• Robotics

I spoke with Oakdale Neighbor’s youth director, Bruce Bouman, about his experiences here. Bruce has worked at Oakdale Neighbors for the majority of its existence, since 2004. Before that Bruce was a Calvin social work grad who participated in service-learning and lived in the Project Neighborhood Koinonia House. From early on Bruce has seen the value in mentorship and the impact service can have on a community.

Being an asset based community development organization means seeking to build assets in kids. Oakdale Neighbors does this through tutoring, youth mentorship and support, and goal management. The kids at Oakdale Neighbors all have what’s called a “Five Finger Contract”: encouragement, responsibility, respect, commitment, and safety. Oakdale Neighbors aims to cultivate these assets in the youth they mentor, so that they can take these skills with them later in life to things like jobs and relationships. 

Each of the different programs Oakdale Neighbors offers are focused on developing skills that kids can apply to their schoolwork and future jobs. This past summer they held a business camp where 10 kids started their own small businesses. They learned financing, entrepreneurship, and business skills. Similarly, while teaching kids to play chess, they learn skills like strategizing, decision making, and planning. Many of the kids that have participated in Chess Club in the past have said it helped them become interested and succeed in STEM. Oakdale's after school Learning Cafe has a student led Robotics Program that also helps kids build valuable technical skills. 

Oakdale Neighbors aims to keep their group sizes around 50 kids. By keeping the groups smaller they can really invest in the kids and build deep, meaningful relationships. Bruce and his colleagues have noticed how many of the kids they mentor end up doing youth ministry themselves later in life. The impact adult mentors can have on young kids is huge, and at Oakdale Neighbors they take this responsibility seriously and humbly.

When Oakdale Neighbors finds a good volunteer they want to hold on to them. Coming into a community for an hour or two a week to “help” then driving back home to another neighborhood where you live is not the ideal type of service. It’s best when volunteers and staff members really want to invest in the community. This means spending time there, going to church there, living and working there. Oftentimes relocating to a neighborhood makes the biggest impact. This isn’t to discourage outsiders who want to get involved, but to encourage them to push themselves to really get involved. The more time spent in the area and the more parts of your own life become connected to the neighborhood, and the better understanding you have of the space, the better impact you will be able to have.

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Colette is a great example of an involved volunteer and speaks to how participating in local community work can impact not only the community but your own vocation as well. Calvin’s Service-Learning Center aims to make these types of connections easy for Calvin students and faculty, to encourage students to use their gifts outside of campus and to discover how their vocation fits into the larger community. 

https://oakdaleneighbors.org/oakdale-neighbors-documents/ 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Service-Learning in Budapest, Hungary

Last fall I had the privilege of studying abroad in the beautiful city of Budapest, Hungary. I arrived mid-August with a suitcase bursting at the seams and loads of excitement. I didn’t know what to expect landing in Budapest. I wanted an exciting study abroad experience full of exploring and personal growth, but I also wanted to gain a deep love for a place and a culture that was not my own.

I lived in a dorm with the 16 other Calvin students, other international students, and Hungarians. I took classes at the local university and with a Calvin professor, Jeff Bouman, who led the Budapest semester that fall. The class I took with Professor Bouman was integral to my experience in Budapest. This class was tailored to Americans studying abroad. We learned about crucial historical events in Hungary and Eastern Europe, but also how we as “long-term tourists” could be part of the local community. It was through this class and the experiences I had in Budapest and traveling that I really started to form my own philosophies and ideas about the world. Studying abroad is such a unique experience because of the emphasis on alternative learning. The city became my classroom and the topics we discussed in class had a big impact on my everyday life.

Studying abroad can be so much more than traveling, eating new foods, and meeting new people. It is a chance to practice “place making” —that is, learning how to be present in the space you are occupying. It is easy to feel like a tourist while studying abroad, you’re in a new space for only a few short months so it is difficult to treat it like home. At the beginning of the semester your mind is back at home with family and friends, thinking about all the things you are missing out on. But, eventually those things start to fade. The world around you feels more relevant than the memories of the people back home. This is when you start feeling like you can really invest in where you are, but may be unsure how to make your surroundings feel like home.

What made Budapest start to feel like home was working in the city with locals. Part of Calvin’s Budapest semester is a Cross-Cultural Engagement (CCE). This is a class credit that you earn through volunteering at a local organization. Some of my classmates tutored English, worked at refugee centers, or served coffee at local cafes. Most of these organizations had a Calvin volunteer every fall when there was a group studying abroad, so many of us were stepping into a long relationship between Calvin and Budapest that we were just a small part of. I ended up at the Ecumenical Office for the Reformed Church of Hungary (RCH). I worked in their newsroom and edited Hungarian articles that had been translated into English. I worked closely with Timi who translated the articles, and Dia who oversaw the office. Spending a good portion of my week working in this office with these two women ended up being the highlight of my semester.

Had it not been for working at the RCH, I think it would have taken me far longer to stop feeling like a tourist and to start feeling at home in Budapest. Being a contributing member of society in the place I was temporarily living was beneficial for my understanding of Budapest as a place. This was a time of the week when I spent a collective two hours taking public transport across the city on my own. Even this simple task was a good way to learn the city and its people. In other words, it helped me to learn my neighborhood structurally and personally. At the office I read articles about social issues affecting the local community. These articles often sparked conversations with my coworkers and gave me helpful insights into life in Hungary. Working with locals made Budapest feel like a place I was engaging rather than just a space I was temporarily filling.

Due to COVID-19 the RCH was going to be left without a Calvin student editor this year. I’ve had the privilege of now continuing this partnership virtually since returning home. It was difficult to leave Budapest after getting to know it so intimately, so I’ve really enjoyed this lasting connection. Reading articles each week about local news and speaking with the staff members back in Budapest has made the transition back home a little easier. Serving at the RCH has provided a lasting connection to a city and people I love, and for that I am very grateful.

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The Service-Learning Center’s very own, Jeff Bouman, is leaving Calvin after 19 years, and moving to Budapest to serve at the RCH. Jeff, and his wife Julie, have felt an increasing calling over the past few years to move to Budapest full time. They have already spent a collective 15 or so months living in Budapest as Jeff leads Calvin’s semester abroad in Hungary every few years. Being split between two places, the Boumans have decided to commit to Budapest as their permanent home.

Jeff is departing from his role as the director of Calvin’s Service-Learning Center to go where he feels he is being called. As Europe, Hungary, and the Church are becoming increasingly xenophobic and waves of refugees continue to spread throughout the world, Jeff is drawn to being a part of whatever it may mean for the church to respond to this massive displacement of people. Working with and learning how to serve folks who are not just homeless, but without country, is not just an important calling for people in the church, but one Jeff feels personally called to, “I want to see it firsthand and serve in whatever way I can”.

Jeff is going through the organization Resonate Global Ministry (the world mission branch of the Christian Reformed Church in North America) and his receiving partner in Hungary is the Reformed Church in Hungary (RCH). Through the RCH Jeff will be working at several different places. The main location being Kalunba, a ministry branch of the RCH. Kalunba is a NGO that works to support refugees in Hungary. Here Jeff will primarily be working to create a staff development and volunteer management program. He hopes to provide a more robust platform for long term volunteers as well as deep and meaningful staff development—both of which Jeff has been doing for years with Calvin students in classrooms, study abroad trips, and service-learning opportunities.

The other part of Jeff’s work will be done through the RCH’s partner Károli Gáspár University (where Calvin students take classes when in Budapest). Jeff has spoken here on several occasions to give lectures on various staff/student development topics. At Károli Jeff will be both teaching courses as well as working in campus ministry. Jeff has previously taught courses on topics such as social justice, Eastern European history, diversity, and plans to teach similar topics at Károli.

Through Resonate Global Jeff will also be developing a cohort program in Europe—getting younger adults experience in mission and cultural crossing in Europe. This type of program is already operating in the Middle East and Latin America, hopefully Europe will be added to that list within the next few years. This program would pair foreign young adults with a local Hungarian with the intent to explore what it means to do the work of ministry around the world. Calvin alumni are a great source for potential volunteers in the future.

Jeff and Julie had initially planned on being in Budapest early January, but with the high COVID infection rates happening around the world, their plans have been pushed back a few weeks to mid February. They have over 90% of their overall fundraising goal thus far and hope to reach 100% by the time they leave. There is still a lot of ambiguity around the move so far as housing and timing, but Jeff and Julie are holding plans loosely and eagerly looking forward to returning to their home away from home.

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Budapest has been and will continue to be a place that has close ties with Calvin. Though it’s across the globe, has another language and a different culture, there are still so many powerful connectors between these two places. It’s beautiful to see the connection Calvin has with Budapest through the students studying abroad there, alumni who have moved there, and those who have decided to work there full-time. Here at the Service-Learning Center we are sad to see Jeff leave but happy to see him continuing to further these relationships in Budapest.


Sziasztok!

Avery Gill

Community Partner Interview Series Introduction

 My name is Avery Gill. I’m a senior studying psychology and writing. This year I was hired to work at the Service-Learning Center (S-LC) as the communications coordinator. I was first introduced to the idea and practice of “service-learning” last fall while studying abroad in Budapest, Hungary. My semester director was Jeff Bouman, the former Director of the Service-Learning Center. In Budapest Jeff led our group through, what was for most, a very meaningful and impactful semester.

I’ll speak more about this experience in the next article, but I thought it was important to give some context before introducing this project. As the S-LC’s communications coordinator, my job this year is to tell the stories of local organizations in Grand Rapids that partner with our office. For many decades, the S-LC has been sending Calvin students out into the community to do some remarkable work. Many students have been touched by these experiences and many organizations have as well. For the next few months, I will be highlighting these stories through a series of blog posts. So, check in every now and again to hear some inspiring stories and to learn more about your community!

The “Reciprocal Nature of Service” is Tricky Business

In the article “A Faithful Presence in the Community”, Phil de Haan gives a nice description of the underlying philosophy and history of Calvin’s Service-Learning Center. As someone who is quite comfortable in the office now, it was interesting to get a more rounded understanding of the office’s history and humble beginnings. 

One topic de Haan touched on in his article was the tricky “reciprocal nature of service.” Sometimes when organizations are centered around public service, the heart of the mission can get muddled. It is all too easy for service organizations to become a “service savior” of sorts, where the focus is helping others in order to get something, rather than to simply be of service. When sending volunteers out into the community, it is important to be conscious of why that person is there and what needs they are fulfilling. 

Are they truly serving the community by being there, or are they simply doing this to feel good and look good? 

This is something that the S-LC needs to constantly be aware of and re-evaluating. Serving others generally makes the majority of us feel good inside. I believe we were built to help one another, thus it is natural to feel some form of gratification after providing service to someone in need. But when we blow these individual feelings of gratification up to an organizational level, it can be tricky keeping the heart of the mission at the forefront. 

This has become all too apparent in the current pandemic where sending Calvin students out into the community to serve is no longer the safest or best way to be loving our neighbors. Typically sending students into places of need in the community is a straightforward task, but now in attempts to mitigate the spread of COVID-19, site visits carry a new weight. The S-LC is trying to figure out how to work with our community partners in a way that is still useful while keeping everyone as safe as possible. It may feel odd not being in person, but this is the best way to serve our community right now. 

Link to article: https://calvin.edu/publication/spark/2013/12/01/a-faithful-presence-in-the-community

Coloring in the STEM Lines

STEM. Science. Technology. Engineering. Mathematics. These four areas have held my interest since I was a little girl. Science, more than anything else. I decided I wanted to become a doctor when I was eight, and I haven’t strayed from the medical path since. At the time, I didn’t realize or understand how my race would come to affect how hard or how easy that path would be for me. I assumed it would be the same for me as it would be for anyone else raised in an upper-middle-class neighborhood; not easy but attainable. I wasn’t prepared for the reality that I would be hit with.

I moved to Ghana when I was eleven and spent most of my pre-teen and teenage years. Therefore, most of my high school years were spent back in Ghana, where the education system is brutal compared to the education system in the states. I excelled in anything science-related, and my professors encouraged me to continue, as did my peers. I felt ready to go back to the States for my senior year and blow everyone’s expectations out of the water.

I didn’t know I would be the one blown away.

One of the first things I noticed coming back was the expectation of where I was academically. My advisor helped place me in all AP classes, and the extra challenge reminded me of the school system in Ghana. I felt at ease in these classes, but my peers may not have felt the same. Whenever I was put in group projects, my ideas were either gently put down or given little consideration. I didn’t realize that at the time, I was just the ‘girl from Ghana’ to them. Statements such as “ You speak English so well,” or “Biochemistry is so hard. Are you interested in anything else?” were common from both my classmates and my professors. It was one of the first times I had felt consciously aware of how people would view my race and my education. But why did that matter?

In today’s society, STEM employment has rapidly grown since the late 90s from 9.7 million people to 17.3 million people and computer jobs have seen a 338% increase over the same period. With this increase, there has also been an increase in minorities represented in the workplace. Interestingly, black and Hispanic workers are still underrepresented in STEM workers. Black people makeup of 11% of the STEM workforce but only 5% in Engineering specifically. This may be because more Black people just don’t want to be in the Engineering field, but there is generally less access to STEM resources in majority Black neighborhoods.

Not only are resources lacking, but surveys done to understand diversity trends in STEM jobs found that there were widely different results when different races were asked about the lack of diversity. 73% of black people were found to agree that lacking resources for STEM early on in life was a significant cause, while 50% of white people agreed. While 72% of black people thought discrimination in recruitment and hiring could be a factor, only 27% of white people found they thought the statement held true. 62% of black people, 42 % of Hispanic people, and 44% of Asian people said they faced discrimination in their workplace, compared to 13% of white people.

The majority of black people who said they were discriminated against found that the primary cause for discrimination was being treated as less competent. And I would sympathize and agree with them. I came to Calvin to pursue a Bachelor’s degree in Biochemistry on the Pre-med track. I was going to become a pediatrician...even if it killed me. I had hoped Calvin would be different. Sadly, even here at Calvin, I have had instances where I found myself being treated as if my intelligence wasn’t on the same level as that of my peers. Unfortunately, no matter how hard I can try to break out of the box I’m in, it will always find a way to follow me.

Although this has happened, this isn’t always the case either. I have had amazing professors since I got to Calvin, professors that have encouraged me and challenged me while recognizing my background. I have friends who empathize with my struggle when I view statistics for medical school and become discouraged. And I am sure that there are other students have had better experiences and haven’t really experienced the subconscious burden. But we as a society have to realize that there is a deficit in STEM, one that, while decreasing, still has a significant gap. We cannot claim that institutionalized racism is behind us while we have deficits across demographic lines (race, gender, and socioeconomic status) that prevent the opportunity for equal access. Being able to recognize and understand is the first step to moving forward and coloring in the STEM lines.  

-Stellamarie Pobi, ABSL Natural Sciences and Mathematics Coordinator

Seek Justice // Listen, Learn, Love

StreetFest 2018 designed by Shannon Mack

When I created this theme for StreetFest this past June, I had no idea the impact it would have on my life. In fact, the process of making it was crazy, and this option wasn’t even on the table until two hours before I made the decision to use it. And yet, this theme has followed me throughout my senior year here at Calvin.

After being approached to write a blog post, I had some trouble coming up with what to talk about. Writing a piece on the theme was an idea given to me by multiple people in the office. One day, I jokingly said “why don’t we just post the print version of my speech? It has all my thoughts on the theme in it, and it can be posted tomorrow!” But after saying this, I realized that this just wasn’t true. My thoughts on the development of this theme are laid out in that speech, but this theme has continued to grow, and its point has changed for me as time has passed.

At the beginning, this theme was something of a hope for me; it laid out my dream for the day. This was something that would remind new students to think differently about words like justice and give them a new perspective on volunteering. All my thoughts about the impact of this theme were directed towards other people. But I think this has affected myself more than I ever expected it to affect others.

As a social worker, justice is a word I interact with a lot. In all my classes, we talk about what justice looks like, what it means to different people, and how to live in a just way. It wasn’t until after this theme was created that I realized just how central those three verbs are to justice. Obviously I thought they were important, but I have found myself thinking about listening, learning, and loving as important next steps when thinking about justice on all levels. I always thought about the importance of these verbs simply on a personal level, I did not even think about their place in combating structural, policy level injustice. Throughout this year however, I have come to realize that in order to achieve justice on all levels, listening to others, learning from them, and extending love to all groups are affected.

This theme has followed me not only in my course work, but in my continued work in the SLC. Each year the student staff of the SLC are tasked with writing a covenant for ourselves. This year’s covenant is titled “Listen, Learn, Love”, and it is a charge to ourselves to live out these verbs and a cry for forgiveness when we fail (which is often). It was never in my mind that these verbs would become such an integral part of the life of the office this year. But, because it is so involved in our office, I have been able to continue thinking about the impact this theme has on my life. If it wasn’t for reading that covenant each week, I don’t believe this theme would have such an impact on my thinking.

Because of the words “Seek Justice // Listen, Learn, Love” I think about those around me differently, I see injustice in a new light, listening is now a very active action, learning about others through their stories is something I am more passionate about, and extending love to those around me is a privilege. I recognize that there is no way true justice will reign while I am still here on this earth, but this is the beauty I have found in this theme in the last 6 months: we are not called to bring true justice, and God knows we cannot live out true justice, but we can do our best to seek justice while we are here. This is what I constantly remind myself of. Although I will never see what true justice looks like, I am called to do what I can to live out true justice in an effort to help bring it about.

Reading our covenant, talking about justice in my social work classes, and working in the community through my internship and service-learning all remind me daily that our world is broken, that I am broken, but that there is hope. I am so thankful that God placed these words on my heart, and that He continues to prove to me the importance of the verbs listen, learn, and love. I cannot wait to see where this theme follows me throughout my life, because it has already impacted me so much. My hope is that it will never leave me, and that I will continue to live out the call I gave to those new students back in August.

-Bri Rutgers, StreetFest Coordinator 2018, Transportation Coordinator

On Being "too American"

“They’re very American.” Recently someone used this phrase to describe me as a warning to an African student I had gone on a few dates with. It was a way to distinguish why the relationship would not work out, because I am American and they are not. Upon hearing this I was upset. Now I am wondering what is so hurtful about being called American. Why is this the phrase that was chosen to differentiate me from a non-American? Is it meant to insult me and all Americans? It brings to the forefront the stereotype of loud, ignorant, self-centered, entitled, and overall obnoxious American.

First, why is this a phrase to differentiate an American from a non-American? Are differences in Americans and non-Americans so great that they cannot find common ground? This discounts the possibility that both parties can listen and learn from the other. My American nationality does not erase my ability to understand another’s perspective but it does complicate it. I must consciously and constantly unlearn the falsehood that America is greater, that my job is to bring freedom to others, that the American dream is the only valid dream.

I believe a key to overriding one’s national lens, specifically the American lens, is to travel and to read books. Observing how people live in other countries allows one to see the way other societies function. It gives one the ability to view the weaknesses but more importantly the strengths. When returning from a trip, the lens I have in my country is then altered. The lens remains American but with a tinge of the knowledge of something else. When I studied in Honduras, we took the public bus 3 days per week. There were 20 Americans and some 40 Hondurans. The bus left at 8am so we were typically quiet but, frequently we were loud, speaking in heavily accented Michigan English. At first this didn’t strike me as particularly out of place, we were simply the only ones talking. After a few bus rides however, I noticed no other passengers talked quite as loud nor quite as often. The other passengers quietly awaited their stop and occasionally chatted softly with the person next to them. When I began to listen and not simply talk to my American friends, I noticed when elderly women would get on the bus and I was quicker to give up my seat. When I decreased my American volume, I felt ashamed that I did not notice it before. However, loud behavior is not exclusively American. When my host family would gather, they were quite loud. The difference was an awareness of when to be loud something I am still unlearning.

But travel is not possible for everyone so that leaves books. I have found that reading books written by non-white and/or non-American authors has also changed the lens I have. After listening to a TED talk by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, I felt challenged to read not only books that I enjoyed because they were relatable but to include books written by authors who were not white Americans. Books provide a way to peek into another viewpoint or culture. Through careful observation and reflection one can identify why the parts of books that feel unknown or uncomfortable feel that way. Often these books can unveil hidden prejudices to one’s own expectations for behavior, lifestyle, and approach to relationships. Recently I read Pride by Ibi Zoboi. The retelling of Pride and Prejudice is set in Brooklyn and centers around a young afro-latina who is struggling with the encroaching gentrification in her neighborhood. The protagonist, Zuri, is American but we do not share many experiences. While my high school experience was in a private school in the white suburbs of Chicago, Zuri attended a public school in her neighborhood. But even if we had grown up in the same neighborhood, we would have had starkly different experiences. While I cannot know her reality, by reading about her life I can see the beauty in her close-knit family and pride in her neighborhood. I can view from the opposite perspective how new “hip” restaurants in Eastown that I frequent and enjoy have chipped away at the essence of someone else’s home. I need to keep unlearning how something that is enjoyable for me can also be harmful.

Second, how is being too American an insult? My parents, grandparents, and great grandparents were all raised in the US. All my siblings are married to Americans. I am American because what else could I be? But I must constantly strive to unlearn the aspects I hate about being American such as an extreme egocentrism or having to look at a map when someone mentions a country in Asia or Africa or not being aware of politics in other countries. But then I begin to internally defend my character against the negative American stereotypes. I am not overly nationalistic or hateful of immigrants. Nor do I only eat fast food or love guns. But then I thought, how many Americans fall into all these categories? Could I lump all Americans into these groups? Of course not. Just like in no country are the stereotypes true of all people in that country. While they might hold truth, they do not define every individual in the country. But too often Americans do fall into the stereotypes assigned to them. America is not greater than everyone else. We do not have politics figured out. Our system of government is not without fault nor is it void of abuse and neglect. Our society is broken. The ideologies that are typical of Americans are the ones that all Americans must consistently unlearn.

Loud, ignorant, self-centered, entitled, and overall obnoxious. Are these words that describe me? Honestly, they do. I am often loud, I find myself thinking ignorant things, I think about myself and my needs more than others, and I too often forget that I don’t deserve 99% of what I have. These traps of American Exceptionalism often catch up to me.

Am I too American? Am I too American to date an African? Does my lack of geographical expertise make a relationship impossible? Will my global political ignorance be an impossible barrier? I don’t know.

I am very American. I am confident in who I am. I have a strong sense of self. These three statements are not inherently evil. But they can be when I allow my nationality to create a sense of superiority, my confidence to manifest as self-righteousness, and my sense of self as alienation of the other.

The Service-Learning Center’s covenant this year includes these three lines of repentance, “Forgive us when we listen to respond, rather than listen to understand…Forgive us when we choose comfort and ignorance over openness and growth…Forgive us when we fail to love, to fulfill our calling, when we exclude, when we forget.” As I continually fight to listen, learn, and love better, I ask for forgiveness when I fail. I ask for forgiveness when I live into the negative stereotypes of my nationality and I will continually seek to unlearn them.

-Juliana Stremler, Residence Hall Community Partnerships Coordinator