acceptance

Throughout this semester we have covered topics focusing on love and acceptance. Part of the Jesuit education is to leave your comfort zone and meet the people in the city and become involved. Recently, I attended the talk about the gay gene. This lecture was different from most of the other that I have attended this past year. It offered a lot of statistics and gave you an inside look as to how homosexuals feel about certain advances and about the politics aspect. He used analogies to help others understand his point and explained a lot of things that I had also wondered about.
The most interesting thing that Chandler Burr talked about was regarding the issue of fetuses. First, he shared with us how in Texas a lesbian couple wanted to know how they would go about in aborting a heterosexual baby. It was interesting to hear this because more often you hear about heterosexual couples hoping and wishing that they do not have a homosexual baby. I believe it is a fault of the society that this information was not broadcasted and made into a bigger deal than it really is. Here the issue of acceptance has switched sides. It is an ordinary thing to hear about a heterosexual complaining about someone who is gay. Though it is unfair, it is much more common to hear of. In this case, the idea of gay people complaining and trying to avoid straight people, the tables have turned and they are not being tolerant of their way of life. Constantly, heterosexual couples and people are being put down for their prejudice beliefs against homosexuals, as well they should be. Therefore, I believe that the media should handle this situation as they do any other situation.
Another interesting part of the lecture was about gay activists. At first, when he told us that they fight to claim that they were not born gay and that it just happened to them, I was shocked. It was always my belief that it was biological and that that was how they wanted it to look like. However, he then shared with us the reasoning and it makes a lot of sense. They would rather not have gay rights than to admit that it is biological because there are many couples out there unfortunately who do not want to have a baby of a homosexual orientation. In essence, gay activists have a fear that if the gene is found and they are able to tell whether a baby will be gay or not before it is born, then they will be aborted and eventually killed off.
This lecture covered many grounds and was real eye-opening. Burr touched on subjects that were surprising and that most people do not make into a public matter. If everyone could just be accepting and not so judgmental then this would not even be an issue. People need to learn to be more tolerant so that this world could be a happier and safer place to live in.

Music: A Way of Life

Music brings people together. In this Year of the City, a year of trying to come together with Baltimore, it is important to recognize outlets through which we can connect with the city. Music is one of those outlets. Fr. T. Frank Kennedy came from Boston College to speak about the Jesuit connection to music. Through opera and movie clips of different musical productions he has directed, Fr. Kennedy clearly showed us that music is an important outlet for integrating the Jesuits into the city.
Fr. Kennedy began his speech with the movie, “The Mission”. Being from a Jesuit high school and seeing the movie before, I knew that the Jesuits were living and working in what were called Paraguay Reductions, among the indigenous people. Music was one clear connection that they had, breaking the language barrier. The scene showed a Jesuit priest playing a flute in the rainforest. Kennedy made the point that while the Jesuits connect to the indigenous people through music, the Jesuits can learn the ways of the indigenous people as well. One part of the Jesuit mission being to learn by experience with others.
Although I am unfamiliar with opera, Kennedy used opera to discuss the universality of music, and with this, I totally agree. I love playing and listening to music, and it is definitely a universal language. A perfect example of Kennedy’s theory ringing true was when I was in Ecuador. When we attended the Sunday Mass in the village, and our Spanish was not up to par, we could still simply sit with the Ecuadorans and play with the instruments they had. Whether it was an old classical guitar, or a dusty, obsolete keyboard, playing along with them links us together.
Kennedy also discusses links between music and vocation. He spoke of a professor at the University of Maryland that talked about how music is the outlet through which we find out how to be happy. I understand this statement because I feel like I could live without music. It is very cliché to say that, but it is so often a part of my life. Fr. Kennedy, a former member of the Loyola Jesuit community, also talked about Loyola College. It is education that is the outlet of passion of the Society of Jesus, but music is another outlet that the Jesuits love.

Volunteering in Baltimore

In many respects, Loyola’s recognition of the Baltimore Year of The City initiative served as the backbone for much of the work I completed in my classes this year. My experiences in Understanding Literature ultimately proved to be some of the most valuable and cohesive because I was afforded the opportunity to share with others what I learned, and apply my knowledge and feelings about Baltimore city to the class. Attending lectures, listening to speakers, working on projects, and analyzing literature helped me draw meaningful parallels between myself, the city, literature, and Jesuit education. Reflecting on these connections I recognize that I have become a more insightful individual because I have learned to look at things much differently.
I have learned to look at myself, Baltimore, literature, and my life at Loyola with a much more critical eye. Furthermore, I have learned to identify the various lenses I use to view and interpret my life, the city, and literature. This is important because the lenses one uses to perceive his connection to the community, family, friends, art, and literature greatly shape his perspective and general outlook in life. I was able to apply much of much of the insight I gained from our discussions about the lenses we use to view Baltimore city and ourselves at a reflective dinner and discussion I attended for the Loyola – St. Mary’s School Partnership, in which I have participated all semester long. During the discussion part of the banquet a speaker stood at the podium with large screen behind her that had several pictures of pairs of glasses. When she began speaking, I immediately understood what the glasses represented. In small group reflection with other volunteers, we were encouraged to look closely at the lenses we used before and after our service at St. Mary’s school, and how it affected our perspectives concerning Baltimore city, its schools, and its inhabitants in relation to ourselves.
Every week I went to St. Mary’s with an open mind, ready to face all of the problems and obstacles the kids brought to the table. Initially, I signed up to volunteer at St. Mary’s because I wanted to get involved with the community and offer what I could to those in need. I had never tutored or worked with underprivileged kids before and had no idea what I as getting into. Even if I didn’t want to admit it to myself, I went to St. Mary’s with assumptions. My only knowledge of Baltimore city was composed of a mixture of stereotypes; I thought every neighborhood was poor and unsafe and the inhabitants were underprivileged and destitute. After one session at St. Mary’s, I realized that the lens I had been using to view the city had been “clouded”, so to speak. It had been clouded by stereotypes, misinformation, and wrong assumptions. The kids I worked with turned out to be some of the most sincere, gracious, and genuine children I have ever encountered. Whether it was helping them with a math problem, reading a book, helping them workout a problem with a friend or family member, the kids at St. Mary’s were just appreciative to have someone to talk to and listen to them.
Volunteering at St. Mary’s proved to be an experience that changed the lens with which I view the city of Baltimore as well the lens with which the kids viewed Loyola students. Perhaps the most rewarding part of volunteering at St. Mary’s was knowing that I was directly impacting someone else’s life and decisions. Working in small groups and one on one with the kids broke down the barriers between us. When we sat at the table in the cafeteria working out math problems or practicing spelling words I was a friend and mentor to them, not a teacher, parent, or disciplinarian. Despite all the everyday hardships they face in the classroom, at home, and on the streets of Baltimore, at the end of the day those kids are the same way I was when I was seven or eight years old. Recognizing this fact helped me realize that a relationship had formed and that it would be hard to leave these kids after working with them for five months.
This experience also put a lot into perspective for me. While I would complain about having a bad day, taking a hard exam, or having to write a long paper I had to face much greater, more deep-seated problems every time I worked with the kids at St. Mary’s. Many of them had parents or siblings that were in jail, addicted to drugs, or even dead. It breaks my heart to think about how they live each day with such strength, being raised with minimal guidance by grandparents, aunts or uncles. Thus, my perspectives changed substantially as a result of this experience. However, it was also a really positive and encouraging notion to know that I had such a great impact on the kids. Talking to the older kids about attending Loyola helped them recognize that they have the ability to achieve great things if they set goals and work hard. In fact, many of the kids said they wanted to attend Loyola when they get older. Additionally, they were very interested in my personal life and learning more about me, primarily because I had a genuine interest in helping them and showed interest in their lives, growth, and development. It really touched me to learn that one of the first graders, Arnay, actually cried when I had to miss a tutoring session at St. Mary’s one week.
Although I could have used this last blog to talk about this past Tuesday, my last tutoring session at St. Mary’s, I wanted to take the time to reflect on my entire experience. Volunteering this semester at St. Mary’s was a true learning experience for me as well as for the children. This experience as well as the bus/museum analysis really helped me to look at the city in a positive light for all of the great things it has to offer. Additionally, it helped put the ideals of Jesuit education into context for me because I was learning to interact with the community and lend my talents and abilities to make it a stronger and more positive environment. Evidence of the lessons I learned each week helped me connect my experiences at St. Mary’s to the themes present in a great deal of the literature we analyzed this semester. These experiences have also made me think about the way I view the city and its inhabitants. Volunteering at St. Mary’s proved to be a positive learning experience that helped me get involved with the community, become more insightful towards the meaning to Jesuit education, and see Baltimore city in a whole new light.

As the semester comes to a close, I had the opportunity to volunteer once more at the Mt. Washington Pediatric Hospital and additionally at the Year of the City Health Fair hosted by Loyola last Thursday April 19th. Despite being busy beginning studying for finals I still realize the importance of staying involved and doing my part. While schedules become hectic and my stress level increases, causing a tendency for me to focus on myself, I find that volunteering helps to keep me in check with the world around me.
In reflection, my experiences at Mt. Washington Pediatric Hospital have been nothing short of eye-opening—raising my awareness of the kinds of struggles that both young, helpless children and their concerned parents must endure. What always amazes me when I walk through the doors of the hospital is the kindness with which all volunteers, patients, and parents are greeted. Furthermore, at other hospitals that I have volunteered at, there was a limit as to the patient to volunteer interaction. Previously, I acted as a gopher—doing errands for the nurses. While I know my duties certainly helped the nurses in the ICU at Kenmore Mercy Hospital in Buffalo, NY, my experiences at Mt. Washington allowed me to truly interact with the patients. I realized that I was doing more than just busy work. Instead, I could actually help to better the patient’s health and make their stay more pleasant during what can be a very unpleasant time.
Tuesday was my last day to visit the babies in the unit. I was fortunate enough to help a nurse calm twin boys who were anxious and upset lying in their isolate chambers. I always find it remarkable to watch the kind of responses that even the youngest babies give to caregiver involvement. Following this, I had the final opportunity to work with a child on a ventilator. Unable to fully breathe on their own, vent patients need the most attention of all. While disabled by the machines, many of these babies are the most playful of the bunch, yearning for attention. Playing with a baby girl on a vent, I also watched the young mother next to me suction her child’s vent tubes. Watching their struggle made me realize that, unlike I who am fortunate enough to live without the help of a machine, this mother and her child will most likely never be able to live a ‘normal’ life. It is when I am working with these patients that I find the most humbling perspectives and I learn to appreciate my health and life. Though I am sad to see my experience come to an end, I look forward to next year when hopefully I can further assist more patients and their families and establish relationships with them.
Working with these patients at Mt. Washington helps me to fulfill my idea of Jesuit education which includes helping someone every chance that I get. I found another opportunity to help others last week when I volunteered at the Health Fair. In the beginning I worked blowing up balloons and distributing them around McGuire Hall, I also worked at the registration desk, helping to sign in many healthcare companies from the Baltimore area who are here to inform the community of ways to maintain and improve their health status. Bringing together all members of the community, the Health Fair offered everyone things from free massages to free aids testing. I was truly amazed at the number of people that showed up to the Fair. Not only were there many Loyola students, faculty and staff visiting, the event was open to the community. School children from within the Baltimore area were also invited to come. As one community, it is important that information and the availability of health standards be known. Since all of us are prone to health illness throughout our lifetimes, we need to be informed about current health issues that could possibly affect all of us at one point or another. This seemed to be a main goal of the Health Fair.
Being involved throughout the year at Mt. Washington and last week at the Health Fair has helped to make several of the ideas that we explored in class this year come alive. In Whale Rider and other poems, we defined and analyzed several boundaries that are present in society. During my work at the hospital and the health fair, I saw one of the boundaries being broken down. As understood through the Jane Jacob’s article and the messages communicated by guest speakers, there is an issue within Baltimore City. The divide between rich and poor is increasing. The hospital and events like the Health Fair work to mend this divide. Being a student at Loyola has given me the opportunity to realize that applications of my education are present throughout the city around me and through my volunteer work, I have been able to become a part of the city myself.

My service with St. Ignatius Middle School in the past few months along with our discussions in class about boundaries have shown me first hand what boundaries can do and how we can begin to tear them down. One of the most prominent themes from this year is one of boundaries. We have discussed how they are formed, how they are strengthened and perpetuated, and how they can be torn down. I think that there is a wall between the impoverished students of St. Ignatius and those who are wealthy enough not to have to worry about being poor themselves. It seems that the wall is maintained because it remains untested and unquestioned- much like the wall that Robert Frost talks about in “Mending Wall”. People simply do not get involved with the disadvantaged and, therefore, cannot truly comprehend them or their situations. My service with St. Ignatius and the ideas that Jane Jacob’s presents in her The Death and Life of Great American Cities have shown me that the only way to break down these barriers is for the walls to be crossed over and over until the boundaries have become fluid and indefinable.
There is an obvious disconnect between the well off and the poor in many things- culture, lifestyle, resources, etc. This disconnect lends itself to creating a boundary or wall between the poor and the wealthier. I noticed that, much like in Robert Frost’s “Mending Wall”, my peers’ and my preconceived notions about the service we would be doing were the result of ideas and fears that were continuously built up in our heads without being questioned. I entered St. Ignatius on my first day half expecting to be paired with a punk kid who had no interest in learning and who showed little or no respect for those around him. I expected to spend most of my time trying to keep the kid in his seat rather than doing homework. These expectations were in my head because, although I had worked with very young and very old people, I had never worked with middle school aged children. I did not have any experience with them, but I had already formed my own ideas about the children that I half believed without ever having met or talked with any of the students.
The fact that I had these negative expectations means that there was a boundary between me and the students I would work with. This is because I had no idea where they were coming from and what they experienced daily, yet I walked into the school with the idea that maybe these children just couldn’t be taught because of the environment they have grown up in and learned from. By being pessimistic about the students I would serve, I was separating myself from the kids I would tutor.
However, my notions did not last long. My experience proved my ideas wrong almost immediately. I was paired with a kid named Scott who loved to joke around and talk with his friends, but at the same time, he was also more than willing to sit down and work hard on his homework until it was finished. He shook my hand when I first met him and he never showed any disrespect to his peers or to me. He was polite and listened to what I had to say and we talked about baseball, something we both had in common. Jane Jacobs argues that boundaries should not be static walls; rather, they should be permeable, with many crossovers on both sides. By volunteering and, in effect, crossing the boundary or questioning the walls, I was forced to question and throw out my preconceived notions.
These ideas of questioning and experience are extremely important in the ideas that form in people’s heads. Rather than forming ideas based on prejudices and stereotypes that have existed longer than our parents or grandparents, we should form our ideas based on our own experiences and our own reflection on those experiences. Two weeks ago was about my 6th week at St. Ignatius. I showed up excited to work with a student because I was excited to see what he had done in school that day and to hear any funny stories he had to tell. I had a few funny stories myself to tell the student. At the end of our time together, my student, Eric, turned to me and said “Hey, this was fun. I’m going to do this again next week and request to be with you.”
I am just one microcosm of the people who should cross the permeable walls of our society and experience life on the other side with those from that side. Many wealthy people probably have their own ideas about the poor and disadvantaged, regardless of whether they have worked with them. I think that a good part of the walls of misunderstanding between the wealthy and the poor could be tested if the two sides crossed into the other’s environment regularly and interacting with others, creating a sense of familiarity. My work with St. Ignatius certainly has taught me not to make assumptions about people before they are given a chance to present themselves and it has made me more comfortable with others who may not be like me.

On Thursday April 12, I attended Columbia professor Kenneth Jackson’s lecture “The Road to Hell: Race, Suburbanization, and the Changing Fortunes of Baltimore.” Although Mr. Jackson is originally from Memphis, Tennessee, and now a New Yorker, he is an avid observer of cities, and has a passion for Baltimore. He also celebrates Jane Jacobs, and her novel “The Death and Life of Great American cities” – which is Loyola’s themed novel of the year – for our Year of the City.

Mr. Jackson began by reminding us of the days when Baltimore had to inner harbor, and was the “sin city” of the East Coast – with strip clubs and bars galore. He then spoke about how all cities follow patterns, have distinctions, and a reason for being here; Baltimore is no different. Baltimore was officially founded in 1729, because of its proximity to the Chesapeake Bay. The city was known for its strong Catholic roots: it had the first bishop and cathedral in the United States. It was also the third largest city in the country up until the Civil War. Jackson also spoke about the competition between the close cities of Baltimore and Philadelphia. This led to the transportation revolution – the “roads to the west” – which resulted in Baltimore taking the lead. The first railroad in the world was the Baltimore-Ohio Railroad, in 1827.

Baltimore is now the sixth or seventh largest city, and it has the second largest port of entry. When Baltimore annexed land [from the suburbs] in the 1920’s, its total proximity accumulated to about eighty square miles. In 1950,,their population peaked at 950,000; it is now down to 650,000. The suburbs, on the other hand, went from having a population of 350,000 in 1950, up to two mullion today.

Other signs of decline within the city of Baltimore are: no office buildings were build from 1920 until the 1970’s, the growth of the African American population, and the de-industrialization. Other factors which resulted in many citizens and businesses moving out – were the riots of the 1960’s, and the overall increase in crime. Also, over the years, Baltimore has become less and less diverse in terms of “fresh” immigrants, especially compared with other major cities. Also – our nation has “decided” that it is better to live in suburbs. Economically, it makes sense – there is more and cheaper land. Transportation is also cheaper, as gas is less expensive these days than years ago; finally the way we build houses is much less expensive than doing so overseas. Mr. Jackson compared our real estate and gasoline prices to those of Japan – which are drastically more expensive than ours. He also made the point that since energy is so much more expensive in counties such as Japan, they tend to use much less than us.

Mr. Jackson proceeded to discuss the role of government. He brought up the Homeowners Loan Organization, and then the Federal homeowners Administration – to help people get better mortgage rates. He also brought up the effects of public housing on the housing market. The result was that the poor were concentrated in the cities, because the suburbs simply didn’t apply for the money for pubic housing. In Europe, on the other hand, public housing is scattered – so there is not one over-impoverished area.
The government did not restrict growth. Finally, Mr. Jackson mentioned the balkanization of our government. In America, there are 15,000 different school districts, while France has one! America is an attractive place to live from a foreigner’s perspective because it is actually possible to own land, get an education and have the American dream.

Many people claim to have moved out of the cities into the suburbs because of the safety conditions and crime rates. Interestingly enough, Mr. Jackson brought up how living in New York City is one of the “safest places in the world;” it is so dense that it is extremely difficult to commit a crime! Eon the other hand, people in suburbs die all too often in car accidents, which are rare in the city. One has a much greater chance of dying in a car accident than of being murdered. Also, the best medical care is noticeably in large, dense cities – where doctors are constantly looking over the shoulders’ of other doctors to make sure they are properly doing their jobs. Many people travel thousands of miles to cities such as Baltimore, which contain quality medical centers – such as Johns Hopkins.

The question is – will cities such as Baltimore continue to decline? Not according to Mr. Kenneth Jackson; he thinks there will be a return to cities. People want to be near each other. There is a continuing decline in racism for an increased appreciation for history. Finally, it is the people who live within the cities who will decide whether a city will flourish or fall. in America.

Throughout this semester I feel that I have become more connected with the city of Baltimore -- through literature in class, required events, and most obviously the bus ride through the city. Looking back I realized how vital this is to the education process, and I am so grateful that this has taken place during my freshman year of college. Being forced to get so involved so early in my career will surely be a valuable tool for the future. I have now realized firsthand the Jesuit principle of connecting what you learn inside and outside the classroom, and how everything relates back to education - from riding a bus into town, attending a lecture, walking within a museum, or reading a poem for literature class.

"The Road to Hell"

As the “Year of the City” came to a close, one of the last speakers was Kenneth Jackson, professor at Columbia University in New York, New York. Jackson spoke about urbanization in his lectured entitled “The Road to Hell.” Jackson spoke about Baltimore from its beginning of being a major city. As Baltimore rose as a major city, Jackson remarks, it was considered the “sin city” of the East Coast, or maybe even the U.S. This he said was due to the “sinful” Baltimore Street, with its bars, strip clubs, and other forms of indecency. Jackson exclaimed that the creation of such an indecent city was due to the lack of families and family-friendly businesses in an all-industrial city based on shipping and the use of the Chesapeake. The importance of Baltimore as a city decreased after the Civil War, Jackson says, but then increases due to the B & O Railroad, the first real railroad in the U.S. And all throughout Jackson’s summary of the history of Baltimore as a city, he kept adding the important point that what is happening to Baltimore, as far as urbanization is not sticking with human pattern, that is it is not similar to what has happened or is happening in other major cities such as New York and Boston. One of the major problems that occurred, Jackson points out, is that the growth of African American population coincided with the deindustrialization of Baltimore. African Americans moved to Baltimore when job opportunities in the shipping industry were decreasing. It was hard for African Americans to find jobs in Baltimore due to the strong presence of racism, and the few jobs in the shipping industry were being taking over by machinery that did the jobs of human beings efficiently. From there Jackson remarks, the decline of downtown increased hand and hand with the increase in poverty and home abandonment. Following the large increase in poverty was the 1967 riots, the rise of crime, and decrease of central businesses. This deterioration of Baltimore City, Jackson continues, is due to the strong sense of racism and the trend of race. The constant redlining of districts is based on the concentration of African Americans. This is a harsh reality for me to face. I find it funny how people create problems for themselves, or would allow their city to succumb to crime and poverty, because of racist views. This reality was not unknown to me prior to attending the lecture, because I have seen this existing problem in attending Loyola and partaking in various community service programs in the city. It obvious that the redlining of districts is based on the race of the population, with one side of Loyola consisting of a predominately white population in a neighborhood full of expensive homes, and further down the street closer to the city in a predominately African American neighborhood there exists a mix of abandoned houses and poverty stricken homes. It seems as if Baltimore City is trying to push away the poor and homeless, who happen to be predominately African American. When one drives away from Baltimore County and the suburbs, moving closer to the city there is an increase in percentage of African Americans. Just from volunteering in a Baltimore City soup kitchen, I see the large number of those who I have served were African Americans, and the neighborhood surrounding (which is the projects) was predominately African American as well. It seems it is the city government’s fault for creating this obvious redlining, making it hard for African Americans to rise out of poverty level, with little available middleclass, low-cost housing. The divide between the poor and the rich is a huge gap, one that will continue to exist due to the variable of racism. Yet hope exists because of those who are trying to lessen such a gap by helping the poor get out of such a confining place. The importance of Loyola, a Jesuit College advocating the idea of “service learning” comes into play with this problem. The locating for Loyola is key, being located between the two neighborhoods of the poor and wealthy, so that students can see the major injustices that exist, many due to racism. One can only hope that people remain aware of such social injustices, and work to try to eradicate them.

One Year, One City

“Looking Back, Moving Forward” was the culminating event of Loyola’s Year of the City celebration. The event took place this past Tuesday and reflected upon events that made the YOTC celebration what is was. The audience was invoked to reflect upon Loyola’s relationship with Baltimore. Fellow students, project leaders, and administrators spoke of events that occurred over the past two semesters that strengthened this relationship between this intricate city and our cultured college.

The idea for Year of the City came from Father Linnane. After the destruction that New Orleans suffered after Hurricane Katrina swept through, many eye-opening qualities were exposed. How cities operate, the number of people left behind, and the amount of the impoverished, ignored and forgotten people were all topics in the public eye. Fr. Linnane believed that urbanization is an essential part of Jesuit education. For this reason, there was a quest for Loyola College and its students to establish a deeper connection with the city of Baltimore. Fr. Linnane believed that Loyola "looked up and over the city". He wanted the college and its community to realize the beauty that Baltimore truly has to offer. Thus, the Year of the City was born.

Throughout this closing ceremony there were different speakers who spoke of personal experiences with members of the Baltimore city and members of the community. The speaker that I found most interesting was Jessica Kimak. Ms. Kimak was involved in Habitat for Humanity. Kimak, along with fellow Loyola students ventured to North Fulton Avenue to help restore a home for a local Baltimore woman named Katherine. The area of Baltimore was in a neighborhood which one would usually, “lock their door” when driving through. By helping restore the house for Katherine, members of Habitat for Humanity were rebuilding a piece of Baltimore. Kimak concluded her speech with, “Habitat for Humanity was an education outside of the classroom”.

The Year of the City promoted this education outside of the classroom. However, inside the classroom, we learned about literature that can relate not only to the YOTC but also to the association between Loyola and Baltimore. Jane Jacobs’, The Death and Life of Great American Cities, is a piece of literature that is centered on metropolises and boundaries. Where our college campus is located, which sits on the outskirts of Baltimore, creates a boundary between the city and our college. Just physical location breaks this relationship apart. A lack of understanding for this city and not appreciating the culture that Baltimore has to offer obviously makes the connection between Loyola and Baltimore even further. Yet, in spite of location and preconceptions, the Year of the City has made a significant impact on the Loyola community.

As the end of sophomore year is creeping closer and closer, I was reflecting back on Loyola and Baltimore while writing this blog. Before this class and more importantly this year, I did not know anything about Baltimore. I knew it had an awesome aquarium and a nice harbor area, but I did not know about the people or the neighborhoods of this city. By taking a city bus, visiting museums, and lectures, I have learned that a city is more than its world renowned focal points. A city, such as Baltimore, is about the people who are forgotten, the places that were once boarded up but now restored, and breaking down boundaries. Since I am traveling abroad for my junior year, I know I will definitely miss Loyola and our tightly-knit community. Even more importantly, I have learned to love Baltimore and I know I will miss this city just as much next year.

Jesuits and Music

This past semester the overarching theme of this class was the Year of the City and the Loyola community’s connection to the city. Throughout the semester we connected the Jesuit mission with the works we read, events we attended and places we have visited. Last Thursday evening Father T. Frank Kennedy, a former Loyola Jesuit, came from Boston College to speak about Jesuits and music. Father Kennedy was the founder of the music department at Boston College and specialized in Baroque music. He showed clips of operas he has directed and movies; he explained how music mission is similar to the Jesuits mission. Father Kennedy’s speech brilliantly showed that like the Jesuits, music aim is to bridge gaps between cultures and connect all communities.

Kennedy spoke of Carol Robinson, a professor at University of Maryland who wrote about the artistic expression of humankind. Robinson states that music is a place where we find out who we are and what we do. She concluded that music is the commonality that links all people together. It disallows literal interpretation and bridges gaps between different nations. When the Jesuits were reborn in 1773, they wished to accomplish a contract between themselves and the cities; they hoped to establish the same purpose as music (forming commonalities amongst people).

Nevertheless songs are the only place you can see connections, movies give perfect examples of how music and instruments can bond two culturally different people. He began his lecture with a clip from the twentieth century movie “The Mission.” In the clip the indigenous people of Paraguay come upon a Jesuit man playing a flute in the middle of the rainforest. Kennedy explained that the clip shows how music can bring people together; he also mentioned that Jesuits believe that the best way to learn is through others. During the clip the transference of teaching occurs when the Indian takes the man’s hand and guides him out of the rainforest.

Father Kennedy then explained the definition of a mission statement. Mission statement means propagation of the faith but by the Middle Ages the definition changed to relations internal to the holy trinity. The Jesuits followed the former definition and believed their mission was to preach good news like the apostles. Like apostles their vocation was to travel but not to foreign countries, they wished to travel around the home front.

Operas were a way to spread the good news using the universal language, music. Father Kennedy concluded with a few clips of operas that he directed at Boston College. Operas began in Rome in the year 1622 and were usually written for Holy Week. Kennedy stated that instruments, colors and the chorus were the driving force behind what made the opera flow smoothly. When Kennedy ran operas in Boston College the students didn’t just learn meter, Latin and poetry in an exciting way the learned the story of Jesus. This shows that music and the Jesuits work hand in hand to strength bonds between people forming harmonious communities.

Jesuit Spirituality and Education

Josh Laws, a senior here at Loyola College, made his Catholic Studies Summer Research Grant Lecture last week. The focus of his research project was Jesuit spirituality and Jesuit education, two themes that greatly tie into our class. His speech was very interesting, giving us an in depth view of what Jesuit education is and how it started.

Jesuit education is focused on moral, Christian living centered on faith, hope, and love. It is aimed at brining people together to make a faith community. There are many arguments on college campuses these days about whether or not their particular campus is following these guidelines.

Before we dive into what Jesuit education entails we should look at what makes an ideal Jesuit. An ideal Jesuit has the desire to serve as a soldier of God underneath the banner of the cross. They perform many works of charity especially regarding the education of children. Jesuits know how to discern and live lives of faith, generosity, service, and love. Above all, Jesuits are very close to God, they have the freedom to serve a God we know, love and want to follow. They can do so by St. Ignatius Loyola’s spiritual exercises.

The spiritual exercises are generally done in a 30 day time period. During these 30 days Jesuits discern temptations and focus all actions and thoughts to God. They devote their presence to God and are ready to follow the Holy Spirit wherever God wants them to go. Within the 30 days it is broken up into four weeks. Each week focusing on a certain grace. The first week they move toward a profound awareness of sin. They desire to serve God with great gratitude. The second week they feel the ultimate presence of God and respond to his call to follow him in their daily lives. The third week the Jesuits learn how to suffer with Jesus. They feel humility and compassion and grow towards a deep connection with Jesus and his suffering. The final week they form a union with the risen Christ and learn how to live a loving life in Christ. The exercises are very important but are nothing compared to what the Jesuits do after this process.

Jesuits are called to spread the light and love that they experience. Many times they share this in a college community. They call the college community to use the spiritual exercises and graces they have learned. They form a community of men and women for others working for the greater glory of God. This is one of the main focuses we have here at Loyola.

The Jesuits starting teaching lay students in the 16th century. This was the main focus of St. Ignatius before his death. He desired to create schools for the salvation of souls. This included taking the very best education processes of the time and made them Christian. Ignatius made all Jesuits great teachers. Ignatius believed the students should learn a little bit of everything. No subject was more important than another. He believed the more a student knows about the world, they better they will be at helping. Students should be in school to learn how to serve a higher good, not just to become a smart person.

There were several guidelines that Ignatius came up with for his students. Above all they must be obedient to their teachers. They must also go to confession once a month and mass every Sunday. These actions were not mandatory but strongly suggested. He believed that education should be free to the youth, so more and more children could go to school.

Today Jesuit Universities have become secular and the main goals forgotten. We should continue to push ourselves and ask what more we can do. We can start by reflecting on the graces of the institutions. It is not enough to simply construct statures and religious monuments to remind us of the Jesuit ideals, we must learn to live them out and teach others how to live them out as well. We should be sculpting great saints out of the students, not just statues of great saints. Students should be asking what they have done today for the greater glory of God.

We can serve our faith by bringing gifts of Christ to our world. Each student can lay down their lives for one another, on campus, in the community, and in the world. We can bring the Ignatian spirit everywhere. Students can do this by giving of themselves entirely. Ignatius taught the justice of the gospel and the self-less way of living. Jesus promoted this justice by companionship, giving, and learning of all around him. Ignatius invites us to join people, not just help them. By this we are bringing Christ to our world.

Real life contact is the greatest way to accomplish bringing Christ to our world. Having students jump into the reality of our world is the greatest way to impact their and so many others lives. Here at Loyola and at every other Jesuit institution we must remember that Jesuit schools should be active communities. We can become a unified group working towards the betterment of the lives of the people around us. We must always remember that more work can always be done.

Educating the Whole Body

Last Thursday I participated in the Loyola College health fair that took place in McGuire Hall. I volunteered with several friends to help the venders and organizers. Due to our success in organizing such a large-scale and widely inclusive fair, the mayor of Baltimore sent a representative to thank us and to declare that because of our actions the day would be the official health day of Baltimore.
I signed up to volunteer through a friend who works at the health office at Loyola. I worked at the fair from nine in the morning until approximately twelve in the afternoon. My job consisted of helping the over ninety venders set up their tables and carrying their equipment if they needed help. Also, after the venders were set up my main job was to scoop the free ice cream for anyone who wanted it.
The fair was open to the public, and many members of the Baltimore community attended. Of those in attendance, the most significant were the Baltimore city school kids. The kids came from two different schools and were extremely intrigued by the multitude of information and experiences they could obtain at the fair; they also loved the ice cream. The kids were energetic and were quick to come up to me and tell me about the many things they had learned and experiences they had such as massages and posture tests.
Although the fair was predominantly filled with Loyola students and Loyola volunteers, there was a significant amount of people from Baltimore. Drawing in the diverse crowd and teaching people about their body, fitness, and health is just as important as any Year of the City event I have attended. Even the college students do not have an opportunity to be educated about their body let alone inner-city school kids. The Loyola Jesuit Vision Statement on the Loyola website claims that the vision of the school is to “instill in them an understanding (of) service” and that Loyola’s main commitment is to create a “sound mind in a sound body.” The health fair was a great tool to establish an understanding of your own body and the information that people gained from the health fair can help them to create a healthy body.
I believe the health fair had a lot of influence on the city and the Loyola community. I feel proud to have been a part of an experience that helped educate many young people about their body. Without the health fair, the inner-city kids would never have experienced anything like a free body posture test or free body fat tests. Also, kids are rarely educated about nutrition and exercise despite their importance in a healthy life.
The health fair was a very quintessential Jesuit event. Not only did it incorporate the city and members of the city, but it also was a platform for a lot of volunteering and free services and even served as a way to educate the whole person. The vast amount of venders that gave up their lunch breaks and money (due to the myriad free give-a-ways) speaks to the pureness and goodness of many people’s hearts. Also, the great turn-out illustrates the natural educational interest many people have in the city and in our Loyola community. The fair had an obvious impact on the community; the mayor’s recognition, the turn-out, the enjoyment of the inner-city kids, and other things all happened solely because of the health fair. Volunteering was a great experience.

Jonathan Scott Fuqua

City’s are about diversity. Diversity exists across many different spectrums, whether it is racial diversity, cultural diversity, or even health diversity. Jonathan Scott Fuqua, an author from Baltimore came to speak to us about how he contributes to the diversity of the city, giving us a look into his life, and his struggles. His latest book, King of the Pygmies, which centers on a boy from Maryland that suffered from schizophrenia. Jonathan too suffered from mental disorder. During his talk he spoke to us about the development of his Bi-Polar disorder and also the course of action it took throughout his life and how it affected everything he did.
It was interesting to see how diversity could be seen in so many different ways, how struggle can be seen across a spectrum. When most people think of cities and their diversity they think of races: whether there are more black people, more Asian people, more white people. They think of struggle with poverty, with homelessness. But what about the people that seem to be functioning well, seem to be normal when in fact they are suffering, it is just not as apparent to us. These people that seem to be normal because they have enough money, have a home to live in may suffer from mental disorder, something that can be just as debilitating as a physical disorder.
Jonathan presented us with an interesting perspective on life in the city. All of his books focus on different people living in the city, all of whom have mental disorder in their life.
I think this really presentation emphasized the year of the city’s goal of bringing a range of different people into the college community so that we are exposed to them. It is rare to hear someone come and share their most intimate problem with a large group of people and bring you through their childhood to share their problems with you. What was also interesting was the fact that he was sharing the deepest feelings he had, something that he doesn’t like to make public, but was willing to come share those feelings with us, to let us in, to share with us, his personal life in Baltimore.
Although this was a more private look into someone’s life, a more intimate feeling, it was fascinating to see that, instead of just a look at a group of people or a broad aspect of the city. His books do the same thing by looking at a specific scene, a specific person and therefore getting an overall picture of the city and mental health within the city.
It is hard to imagine that someone that seems normal, seems happy, seems well off could be suffering such internal problems. Just because the suffering is not seen and may not be apparent does not mean it’s there. For example, we don’t see the poverty in Baltimore City everyday, we don’t experience the struggles that some experience everyday, but we know it’s there, and we know it exists. And whether we want to look deeper into that fact or just ignore it is our choice. But it is the goal of the Year of the City program to make us think about those problems, to not just ignore it, but to embrace it and to reach out to those in need. So although we may not see the suffering that does not mean that it is not there, it does not mean that people aren’t out there that may need help.

The Year of the City

The first blog that was assigned to my Understanding Literature class included three literary works all with the overarching theme of boundaries. The works addressed the physical and imaginary boundaries of human life. In Robert Frost’s Mending Wall, he incorporated both of these types. First, there is the physical boundary of a wall between him and his neighbor. The wall is a characteristic of separation: it separates the lives and the property of two neighbors. Ironically enough, it is the construction of this same wall that brings the neighbors together. Loyola College’s Year of the City is symbolic of this wall. It was an idea and a tool that took Loyola Students away from their private lives and brought them out into the city. Here the students got to know the area around them and experience the things that this city has to offer.
This past Tuesday, I attended “Looking Back and Moving Forward.” This program was held as the closing ceremony for the Year of the City. By attending, I learned about the many opportunities offered during the past two semesters, some things I hadn’t even heard of. This past year has included countless chances to leave the enclosure of Loyola College and get out into Baltimore. Loyola’s focus on Jesuit education stresses the importance of educating the entire person and for that person to reach out to others. This is exactly the goal that the YOTC accomplished. By incorporating the Year of the City into classroom curriculum, I got to see the city through the eyes of native. The boundaries of Loyola College were broken down and I got to step out to the other side.
Father Linnane came up with an idea for Loyola College to become more connected with Baltimore shortly after the tragedy of Hurricane Katrina. He felt that urban citizenship shapes Jesuit education and, therefore, urban life should be connected to the classroom. With an overall sense that Loyola overlooks the life and struggles of the city, Fr. Linnane sprung his idea. He wanted to integrate students into the city, so with that he claimed the ’06-’07 year the Year of the City. This claim was a very successful attempt to enhance the relationship with Baltimore. Baltimore is a very diverse and unique city with many cultural outlets and a rich history. The Year of the City would be a mutually beneficial partnership.
During the program, many different people spoke who had in some way contributed to the YOTC. The most profound speaker to me, though, was Amy Maher. She was an intricate part of the St. Mary’s/Loyola Partnership. Maher addressed how the world around us can make us sick but how “it’s not that people don’t care, it’s that they don’t know.” Citizens—and Loyola students in particular—need to know so that they continue to care. This concept and the word with were very important over the past year. The Year of the City was a way to begin conversation, start action, and move towards destiny. The destiny of Loyola is the city and this year has planted seeds for the future.
Through the Year of the City, students got to experience the city, work with it, and learn about the great many things that it has to offer. I personally got to travel to museums, walk around the city, hear speakers, and take public transportation all as part of this great effort. The movement affected the entire Loyola body and the City of Baltimore as a whole. It was a great idea that will hopefully be continued over the years through students’ individual efforts.

reaching out

The event I attended was titled “Jesuit and Urbanism: The Musical Arts.” It featured a man named Father Kennedy, who is a scholar and has a PhD in the field of baroque music. He attended Boston College, Tulane, Holy Cross, and the University of London to get where he is today. Father Linnane was the individual that introduced Father Kennedy, and spoke of many different lectures and events he has attended, all sharing his knowledge of the music of the Jesuits and how they used their music to spread the word of God. Father Linnane, a man of high esteem at Loyola College, commented that he has followed Father Kennedy’s life as a Jesuit– instantly I knew that this man was going to be very profound.
Father Kennedy started off his lecture by showing a clip from the 1986 movie The Mission. This is a story of the Jesuits in Paraguay, spreading the word of God. In this movie, a Jesuit begins to play his oboe, and the native people all flock around him. They are all very curious about what the man is playing, and what the sound they here is. One native goes up to the man playing the oboe, breaks his instrument, while another comes over and puts it back together for him. The man is then escorted by the indigenous people to their village, where he is welcomed and educates them about the music he plays. It is a prime example of how arts and music were critical when reaching out to the indigenous people. Father Kennedy called the Jesuits the “creators of culture,” and in that included the music that they brought with them.
From there, Father Kennedy stressed the idea that all Jesuits believe that the Love of God is present and manifested in all things, including music. He said that music is not only a score, or sounds, but a place where we attempt to know who we are and what to do; we hear music as our lives pass us by. Music is something that links us all together, even through different cultures – it closes gaps between us.
Father Kennedy also explained what a mission really is. In the beginning, a mission was described as a propagation of faith, or a journey of infinite things. Then, the actual definition turned to internal relations to the Holy Trinity. Moreover, the Jesuits also believed that their real journey was home, stating clearly the “vocation of journey.” For some, the mission also became art and music.
Then Father Kennedy decided to go into some details depicting Jesuit Operas. First, in 1622 there was one held in Rome. It was titled “Consecration of St. Ignatius.” Boston College, where Kennedy has been a teacher, put on a show of this opera, and he showed us clips from it. There are many colors and dances that added spice to the opera. Father Kennedy himself said that it would be a little boring. Father Kennedy had men actually sing the very high notes, which was unique. Also, there was a very interesting sword fight which was actually presented as a dance. The music in the play had different meters and fun rhythms to keep the audience upbeat. As Father Kennedy pointed out, all these different elements of the opera helped the audience really involve themselves, and understand the opera in its fullest.
In 1685, there was also a Jesuit opera held in Vienna. It was titled “The Memory of the Suffering Christ.” Each character was actually an allegorical character: Pain, Suffering, Hardness of the Heart, and the Memory of the Suffering Christ. This attribute of the play makes it eccentric and unique, which can help make it interesting. However, Father Kennedy said that throughout most of the play, the Memory of the Suffering Christ is in fact ignored, which I suppose is supposed to represent people’s present day neglect of Christ’s death for us. The arrogance in the play ultimately does show the strength of Christ.
This lecture specifically pointed out what people can do for other people. The Jesuits educated people all over the world not only by spreading the word of God, but also by sharing something of substance with them – music. This allows these people to take this craft of music and evolve it into something unique. This is why Father Kennedy called them the “creators of culture” because music is something every original culture should entail.
Just as the Jesuits stressed that God is present in all things, including music, the Year of the City emphasizes that God is present in all of us. From here, we should take our knowledge that God has allowed us to all have, and utilize it.
I am not one to be especially “spiritual” but I do believe that I am the way I am, and the live my life for a reason. Perhaps the over arching theme of this year could be use what we have to offer, and with it embrace the city of Baltimore. We should share what we have to offer.
I feel as though every week I talk about doing some kind of charity in Baltimore, but unfortunately it is the truth. As said today in class, we should not feel bad about what we have, but rather embrace it, and share with others what we can. This is what the Jesuits did – they went out and shared their musical talent. Moreover, Loyola has such an extensive center to reach out to the city, and I think more students at Loyola really should participate. I have participated in Beans and Bread and also done events for CSC, but there is so much more I could do.
I think the transportation trip and Father Kennedy’s lecture also have a real connection. We attempted to go out into different neighbors and almost “explore” which is what the Jesuits did all around the world. However, I would not go on a stretch and say when we entered on the city bus we showed how “God was present in all things” but I hope it did show some shed of ignorance. I think Loyola kids have a very serious reputation for being snobbish and arrogant, and I hope the people sitting on the Route 11 bus realized that this is not the image I want.
I hope the city of Baltimore realizes that I do want to connect with them, and I want to take full advantage of what it has to offer. Loyola pushing its students to go into the city seemed stupid and pointless at first, but I really think it paid off This is the city that I live in, and now it is time to embrace all aspects of it – even the run down homes and bad neighborhoods. These things are a part of reality. If anything, the Jesuit tradition has taught me to not judge so harshly, and to hope for the best in people. This could perhaps be foolish, but I think being so open is part of what constitutes a real well-rounded person. Moreover, the Jesuits have fulfilling lives doing what they do, but I hope to take away their values to accomplish a life that is successful in my own way.

A few weeks ago I attened the Carole Maso Reading. She is the author of six works of fictions and is working on her seventh. She also has written two non-fiction works and poetry. Maso is a reacher at Brown for writing. At the reading I attended she read several of her shorter pieces of fiction.
Two of the four works were short stories about one of her characters from a book she has written about a girl named Eva who is sick and is in her last days at a hospital. She also read a short story about a mother during a stressful time and an essay about the future of fiction.
For my second paper I wrote about the poems "l(a)," by E.E. Cummings and "This is Just to Say," by William Carlos Williams. These two poems are similar to the readings by Maso because they are unconventional in form, like Maso's unconventional topics in her stories. They also use similar themes such as loneliness.
The first story she read was called "Mothering During Wartime." This is a story about how a mother must care for her child in unbelievable circumstances of a war going on around them. The child brings stuffed animals to dinner like nothing is wrong, but the only thing left for dinner are sunflower seeds. The child came home from school one day with an assignment yo use navigation skills to dig up a treasure. The night before they did the assignment the mother heard bombs sounding in the background, and the narrator in the story says that you don't know whether it's acutally bombs or just the mother's madness. The next day when they go on the assignment and "the mother stands paralyzed at the mass grave, and the child says dig." This story is a little dark and the mother feels like she has no where to turn and no idea what to do. The church is in flames and she thinks "where are all the people?" This idea relates to the theme in Cummings' "l(a" of loneliness, and how one is a big part of that. In this case the mother is one out of the city that she knows is safe, but with her safety comes insanity and loneliness.
The second story called "Young H saved From Infamy" is about a hallucination of a man that Eva has while waiting for her bone-marrow transplant. Mr. H is a man who wants to become an artist, but he is fascinated with death and revenge because is mother is ill. He wants to make a lasting mark in order to make his mother proud. He gets in the art academy, graduates, and becomes a painter. While others were fighting the great war he said "let others fall in trenches," and he went on to creat postcards of cities. Later on he became humbled in front of the blank canvas and couldn't think of anything to draw, but he was asked yo serve as a judge for new applicants, so he was saved once again. At the end of the story Mr. H understands that the pursuit of power destroys love, and that although dreams are good, you have to consider everything else along the way and remember it the best you can.
The next story is when Eva is on the death bed and is titled "Intersession of the Saints." This story explained how life swings like a pendulem towards and away from God. The Saints say that one conquers challenges of the world through pain, and then after pain a floating feeling comes, and everything is okay. Saints reiterate that like is unbearable without suffering; that it is needed in order to live, or your life wouldn't be worth it.
These two stories go along the lines of Williams' "This is Just to Say" Although his poem considers the more playing meaning of forgiveness, it is about forgiveness none the less. These two stories are about how Eva has to forgive God for what is happening to her and for all her pain, because he has other plans in store for her. Without forgiveness she will end her days bitter and not accept what is to come next.
The last reading was an essay about the future of fiction. Maso read this because she knew it was a year of the city event and this essay involved life after the disaster of 9-11 in the major city of New York. Maso feels that fiction will contain unimaginable, emotional freedom in the future. With events like 9-11 emotions will certainly come into play in many author's works. Maso herself used to pivot on Sullivan Street where one way she saw the Empire State Building, and then she would turn around to see the WTC. Now she describes it as a habit, because she still does it, and sadness is bestowed upon her everytime. It's feelings like this that will break into new fiction; a sense of real non-fiction emotions will be brought into the fictional world. Just like Cummings' and Williams' poems are unconventional in describing their emotions, so will new works of fiction.

Disguises

For the last several weeks I have been volunteering at the St. Ignatius Middle School in downtown Baltimore. The middle school is actually located in a building that Loyola used to use as its own campus. It is a remarkable school that attempts to remove its students from their environments as much as possible. It keeps them busy with sports and extracurricular activities throughout the school year. Students are in school from seven a.m. to seven p.m. for ten months out of the year. Each summer, the school takes its students to a summer camp in order to keep them out of their environment to an even greater extent. A student’s typical day consists of classes during normal school hours, until about three. Afterwards, students either participate in a sport, music, or in some other extracurricular activity. From five until pickup at 7:15 the students do their homework. This is when I volunteer. I participate in St. Ignatius’ homework club program and I go each week, get paired with a specific student, and help him through his homework.
One thing I have found in the past several weeks is that the students I have worked with have tended to start off our sessions guarding themselves and not opening up. When they meet me they tend to start off cold or indifferent towards me. However, throughout our two hours of homework time the students usually warm up a great deal and start joking with me. They become more and more comfortable and, as they do this, they reveal more and more about themselves. Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night tells the story of, among other things, a woman who has disguised herself as a man so that she can work as the servant of another man. Throughout the play Viola does reveal certain things about herself. She does not reveal the whole truth, but she never actually lies. Instead, she tells small parts of the truth at different points throughout the play. In a similar way, the boys of St. Ignatius reveal themselves slowly. These students and Viola both show that, despite one’s best attempts at concealment or disguise, the true self will fight to get out and can slowly win.
One student that I worked with that showed this most overtly was named Chris. He is a very lanky sixth grader with thick glasses and a great sense of humor. However, I did not find out about the sense of humor until halfway through our session. When I was first paired with him, he barely mumbled a hello and did not speak to me as we sat down and began his homework. He worked first on math. That is how he revealed to me that he is a very smart, hard working kid. He did not require any assistance on his worksheet and worked through each problem slowly yet steadily. Since he did not need any help, however, our stretch of almost silence continued. It continued until I started joking with my friend who was working with another student at the table next to us. With the first joke Chris started chuckling to himself as he worked. With each successive joke he started laughing more and more. After a short time, we were all laughing together and he was joining in with his own jokes. From that point on we worked together on his homework in spurts that were interrupted by playful joking. By the end of the night, it seemed that Chris and I had formed a bond because he was able to break through his guarded disguise brought about by his discomfort in the situation. What started with a quick laugh escalated and turned into a night full of jokes as Chris slowly allowed his full self to be revealed.
In Twelfth Night, by William Shakespeare, Viola disguises herself as a man but still allows small parts of her true self to shine through. She sets herself up as a very loyal and truthful person in the beginning of the play when she says that she will work for the Duke’s marriage to Olivia despite her own love for the Duke. Throughout the rest of the play Viola speaks the truth always (although not the whole truth) even though it will call her into question. She even says, more than once, “I am not what I am” (III.i). When the Duke and Viola are speaking about who Viola loves she knows she cannot give the full answer (that she loves the Duke), but she answers his questions truthfully even though her answers could easily call her disguise into question- she claims to be in love with a woman who looks just like the Duke. She knows that she should not jeopardize her disguise, but she is truly an honest person and she cannot keep this honesty from shining through.
Disguises are often hard to maintain because people forget that they are not themselves. They lose character because it is hard for a person to maintain a disposition that is not them. Somehow, the true character shines through and this is seen explicitly in the students of St. Ignatius Middle School and in Viola from Twelfth Night.

Layers of Disguise

A few weeks ago, an eclectic baker named Duff Goldman visited Loyola for an event entitled, “The Sweet Life of Baltimore”. Goldman has a television show on the Food Network, Ace of Cakes, which is becoming more popular with every season that airs. Goldman’s bakery, Charm City Cakes, is located in downtown Baltimore. Goldman, along with his staff of close friends, use very unconventional means to create masterpieces with pastry. Goldman has made extravagant replicas of baseball stadiums to everyday dogs for his clients.

When Goldman appeared here at school for this event, his task was to create replica of our very own Humanities Center. Before the event, I have to admit, I was a little apprehensive of the cake. I didn’t know how the cake was going to be constructed or if the imitation Humanities Center would resemble the real building.

To my surprise, Goldman’s cake did, on the outside, look like the Humanities Center. The colors on the cake were a little brighter than the colors of the actual building. Also, more obviously, the cake replication was not to scale as the real Humanities Center. The similarities were pretty impressive. Goldman nailed the pointed roofs, decorative tears, and windows. After the audience watched the construction of the cake, we were obviously allowed to have a piece. The cake had vanilla frosting and vanilla pastry. Overall, I thought the outside of the cake was better than the inside. Even though Goldman’s replication was plausible, seeing another model made me appreciate and respect this definite piece of our campus.

Goldman’s act of replicating a building on our campus can be compared to William Shakespeare’s, Twelfth Night. The act of disguise and producing an imitation of a person surrounds a majority of the characters in the play. One of the main characters, Viola, uses the disguise to try and entice her one true love. She dresses up as a man in order to gain a closer relationship to the Duke. “Conceal me what I am, and be my aid / For such disguise as haply shall become / The form of my intent. I’ll serve this Duke” (Shakespeare 4). Viola also dresses up as a remembrance for her brother which she assumes to the dead after a shipwreck. “Disguise, I see, thou are a wickedness,” (Shakespeare 19). The disguise that Viola was putting up aided in her in getting closer with the Duke, but it also tore her up inside. She was a witness to the love of her life being in love with another woman. Also, the façade was a painful reminder of her fallen twin. Viola wanted to make herself into someone else so that she could pursue her true love. Her disguise also served as a temporary vigil to remember her “fallen” brother.

The Duke is another character who puts up a disguise for others to see. The Duke, also known as Orsino, stood by his word that he is in love with Olivia. However, his love was purely an idea and not a heart-felt sentiment. The Duke only expresses his love through other people. “If the Duke continue those favours towards you, Cesario, you are like to be much advanced…” (Shakespeare 8). The Duke wanted others to tell Olivia how he felt. In the end, the front that the Duke put up allowed him to truly experience real love with Viola. When Viola and the Duke realize that they are in love with each other, they are able to put down their disguises and love one another.

An imitation or a disguise hinders real life experiences. If Viola did not put up a disguise, she may have never found her true love. If the Duke truly expressed his love, then he may have fallen into a bad relationship. Viola’s disguise also brought her to her brother, who she assumed passed away. The construction of the cake gave me a personal appreciation for a central part of our campus. A disguise might be a temporary solution for some, but overall, the real object, person, or feeling needs to be expressed in order for a profound impact to occur.

Confusion and Chaos Concerning Identity

William Shakespeare’s play “Twelfth Night,” and particularly Acts three, four and five – are all about mistaken identity and confusion. Most prominently, Viola is posing as a man, to become close to the Duke, Orsino. Things are complicated when Orsino’s love, Olivia, falls in love with Viola (dressed as a boy – Cesario). Malvolio is also tricked into believing that Olivia loves him. When Viola’s twin brother Sebastian resurfaces, the situation becomes even more confusing when people mistake him for his “sister.” The play is utter chaos, until everyone’s true identity and motives were revealed in the end.

This evening, I attended a lecture and movie on Child Abuse and Neglect. The main speaker, a woman named Tracy, was from a Catholic Children’s Services Organization. Child abuse is a prominent issue in our society, and something we must not forget about. It was very interesting to hear first hand what the procedures for these terrible situations are. It was also a good reminder for us as college students to hear of what happens to these innocent victims, and how many are following the will of Jesus to help them. She began by telling us that if we ever see anything resembling abuse, to contact the proper authorities. It is best to “air on the side of caution” if one is unsure whether or not a child is being abused just in case, and then Social Services will determine whether it is necessary for them to step in.

Tracy proceeded to discuss about the procedures that the Department of Social Services follows, and what happens throughout cases of child abuse and neglect. She stressed how important it is for workers to remain neutral, and always show the family respect; the child is still a part of the family and defensive of them regardless of how much he/she has been hurt by them. It is also key to be aware that every family raises their children differently, comes from different cultures and various circumstances; there are NO cookie cutter families for which abuse is reported. When children enter the “system,” and cannot be immediately adopted, there are three options: foster care, group homes, and a last resort – residential treatment programs. But even foster families are a final option; it is always best to keep the child/children out of the system, and with a family member when possible.

It was heart-wrenching to hear how many children are actually lost within the system, disrupted from their schools, angry, depressed, and malnourished. Drugs and substance abuse is often prevalent in families with child abuse, and is also commonly a cycle within these families that seems impossible to be broken. It was shocking for me to hear that the average age for children to begin abusing drugs and alcohol is age eight! These substances numb them to the situations around them, and help them get through their days. Social services usually tries to keep siblings together whenever possible, to make things as smooth as possible for the children. Often, the oldest child (no matter how young, even as young as five) will take on the parental role of making sure his/her younger siblings are fed, changed and clean. It sounds crazy to think that a five year old could act as parent, but the human mind adapts to every situation. The social worker must then wean the older child back to being a “kid.”

If the child is taken out, it is necessary to try and repair and rebuild the family, and teach the parents parenting skills. If the parents do not make an effort, their parental rights are taken away. Tracy herself was a foster mother, and she noticed that a child who has been taken away from his/her mother is constantly seeking a motherly figure, and also has extreme difficulty finding his true self.

After Tracy was finished speaking, we were shown clips of the Denzel Washington movie: “Antwone Fisher.” The movie is about a young man in the American Navy, who is attending therapy sessions with Denzel Washington’s character. As a child, the man (Antwone Fisher) was an orphan from birth, lived in foster homes, and was continuously beaten and abused. His progress of barely admitting his past to finally making peace with it was traced throughout the movie. Denzel Washington’s encouragement of Antwone reflects the Jesuit ideals. He saw a person who was silently crying out for help, and devoted himself to coming to his rescue. It definitely changed the boy’s life, and set him free of his past.

This lecture related the “Twelfth Night” because children who are abused and neglectd are often extremely confused and have a great deal of difficulty finding their true selves. Even though the two situations are obviously very different, this sense of not knowing and utter confusion are in common. The event also relates to Jesuit education because it brings awareness of those less fortunate than us. We as Catholics are reminded of their difficult lives, and therefore invited to do anything we can to help them.

appreciation of the things around you

The event I attended was a celebration of not only Loyola, but also of creativity. Duff Goldman both the baker and owner of Charm City Cakes (Ace of Cakes) made a unique cake to celebrate the new humanities building on campus. The cake was beautiful and was a rich vanilla flavor with a great vanilla icing (at least the edible part). The cake was made to be a replica or representation of the new humanitarian building.
“Twelfth Night” is a clever, love story. Ultimately, almost everyone ends up with who they really want to be with or love (perhaps a little unrealistic). Moreover, the story presents many themes and ideas all throughout the text. The idea of staying true to oneself, and always being honest is threaded throughout the play. Another issue is what truly defines real love. Also, the issue of who people should put first – themselves or others – is demonstrated. The young Viola disguised as a man is what sets up the entire story to ultimately address these ideas. The image of Viola being a man is what allows reality to be reached, just as the Ace of Cake’s cake is what brings the real building into perspective.
In “Twelfth Night,” there is an occurrence of a representation of the real thing – Viola disguises herself as a man, calling herself Cesario. She in a sense “replicates” a man. Just as the cake was to the new Loyola building, Viola is true to the qualities of this man she creates but to herself as well. It is a consistent representation. Never once does Viola not stay true to how she is actually feeling, even though she is disguised as someone completely differently. For example, Viola says (as Cesario) to Olivia, “What I am, and what I would, are as secret as maidenhead…”(15) Viola in fact indirectly tells Olivia that she is not who she says she is, which is in fact completely true. Also, when the Duke asks Viola (Cesario) if she is in love, she truthfully answers “yes.” Viola also indirectly tells the Duke it is him, staying true to what she feels. The Duke asks Viola (Cesario), “What kind of woman is’t?” and Viola replies, “Of your complexion”(26). Then Viola says the “woman” is about the Duke’s age as well. The main concept is that she never once is untruthful. Viola makes the reader appreciate people who tell the truth, just as Goldman’s cake makes the audience celebrate the humanities building. Also, indirectly, both these items can helps people appreciate Baltimore for what is truly is. It is a diverse city that has both its ups and downs, and room for much charity/development.
The unique cake celebrates the new humanities building at Loyola, and Viola’s creation, Cesario, seems to create a celebration of love. Viola is the one who expresses the truth is what she feels, which is totally in love. As the Charm City cake makes the audience appreciate the new construction more, Viola makes the reader appreciate true love, and is the person who really defines it. When Olivia asks Viola what she(he) would do if she was in love with Olivia, Viola replies, “Make me a willow cabin at your gate, And call upon my soul within the house”(16). Viola is the one that shows dedication to what she loves, for she would build a house next to her lover so she could court him everyday. Moreover, The contrast of Viola’s action and the Duke’s actions is crucial to the story. The Duke sends people to go pursue Olivia for him, showing no personal effort. This is where the reader learns to decipher who really expresses true love – Viola shows dedication and determination, for she would not leave the side of the one she loves even when problems arise. There is a complete lack of movement from the Duke. Never once does he try to talk to Olivia at her house; this is a true sign of laziness. The Duke could be lazy because he is not actually in love, but in love with the idea of being in love. The Duke could be showing no determination because he does not know what he is determined to get. In some sense, he is lost, and does not know what truly defines love. Viola is the character that makes the reader actually appreciate love, because she is the one who actually feels it.
Through it all though, there is a connection between Viola representing true love (the reality of love), and the cake of the humanities building representing and allowing the appreciation of the new construction. To extend this even farther, the event and the cake its self is a celebration of the city of Baltimore. Ace of Cakes is in fact in Baltimore, and the cakes are technically products of the city. Perhaps people can realize how much Baltimore has to offer. Viola’s representation of reality can also be connected to reaching reality about the city – the city needs help. We, being the people of the city, are the ones who must reach out, and make the reality of Baltimore better. Also, we being the people of the city must realize what truly defines love for ourselves. For some, maybe love should be the love or happiness we receive for doing good things in our community; that could be what makes us truly happy.
Viola is the prime example of a person who is selfless. Viola, disguised as Cesario, falls in love with the Duke. However, nothing holds her back from still pursuing Olivia for the Duke, for she wants the Duke to be happy even if it is with someone else. Viola says, “I’ll do my best to woo your lady – Yet, a barful strife – Whoe’er I woo, myself would be his wife”(9). Viola wants to be his wife! This is a contrasting character to Sir Toby, who uses Sir Andrew for his money to go out and drink. Sir Toby says to Sir Andrew in reference to their partying lives, “Thou’rt a scholar; let us therefore eat and drink. Marian, I say! A stoup of wine!”(20) All along Sir Toby keeps Sir Andrew around by deceiving him, making him think that Olivia has true feelings for him. The difference in these characters really emphasizes Viola’s altruism, and can actually make the reader hope she wins the Duke over. Viola in a sense makes the reader come to the epiphany that he/she hopes most of his/her friends or peers would not act selfishly – Viola makes the reader appreciate people that put others before themselves. When connecting both the cake and Viola’s character both exemplifying appreciation and celebration, people must celebrate the city of Baltimore. But also, the reader can take Viola’s selfless at hand. Perhaps we should all be a little more selfless and think of others more. Instead of being lazy, we could recycle every recyclable bottle in the parking lots of our college dorms to help our environment. We could also help out our community and the people of Baltimore city, even in small ways. They seem to be the ones that are most in need.

Hidden Use of Language

The uses of language and imagery define the contents of a story. It’s another outlet for authors to provide a perspective of specific characters. In William Shakespeare and Carol Mason use different language style to give emphasis on certain characters. In Shakespeare’s play Twelfth Night and Mason’s Intercession of the Saints use different language to describe a setting or character. The use of language and certain imagery helps authors better depict the experiences and personalities of characters in their stories.

Mason’s descriptive imagery and language helps her better portray the hallucinations of Ava. Earlier this evening I attend a lecture by Carol Mason a distinguished author and English professor at Brown University. She has written many fiction and non fiction books and has published many essays; her most recent book is a work in process called Bay of Angels which will consists of different stories and essays. Intercession of Angels is an essay about the thoughts of a woman, Ava, on her deathbed while her husband reads a book of saints to her. While Mason read the story the thoughts and emotions of Ava came alive because the particular words and imagery she used. After she read the story, Mason shared with the audience that the language she uses in her stories is due to the church.

Shakespeare uses language to tell the reader who to trust and who is the voice of reason. In the Twelfth Night, Viola and the Clown are the voice of reason and the two characters who speak the most poetically. Viola and the Clown are the wisest characters in play and greatly contrast characters like Sir Andrew and Sir Toby. Shakespeare uses this technique to inform the audience which characters they can trust and take seriously. Shakespeare uses this method at the end of the play. When Sebastian and Viola meet for the first time after the ship wreck and everything is unraveled, most of the characters begin to speak in perfect poetic form. Here Shakespeare is explaining to the audience that order has been restored and all problems resolved.

Many people don’t realize that language is not only used for people to communicate but also allows people define personality. Many authors use this method to their advantage to help the audience/ reader better understand the work. In Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night and Mason’s Bay of Angels and other works the authors do an excellent job of presenting the different personalities and settings with their use of language and imagery.

Communities

We all have a sense of community. Sometimes our community includes other people while other times it is simply a state of mind. Communities can be simply groups of people, people that live together in the same area, have a common purpose, or communions of love. Communities can also be considered by one person, however, they may not be considered by anyone else. Communities of all of these natures can be seen in William Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night as well as some of Carole Maso’s works. Ms. Maso was the final writer of Loyola’s Modern Masters Reading Series.

It is human nature to desire to be in communion with others, and many times it is fueled to become even stronger by certain events. Events can be positive, like that of marriage, or negative, such as a national disaster.

In one of the work’s read by Ms. Maso, she spoke about the feelings cities were sensing after 9/11, in particular the feelings of New York. She explained that many times cities are silent communities that become louder in times of trouble and need. Cities are very vulnerable and precious, and in a marvelous way, man-made. Communities are made by man; they are made by the human tendency to lean towards others.

Two very clear and distinct living communities in Twelfth Night would be the households of Orsino and Olivia. They appear to be the two noble households of the country of Illyria and the characters of the play, for the most part, belong to one of them. Throughout the play other communities are desired, and some are formed, such as the communion between Antonio and Sebastian after Antonio saved Sebastian’s life. There is also the friendship between Orsino and Viola as well as Olivia and Viola, while Orisino truly desires a communion out of love, which he thinks should be with Olivia. In the same way, Ms. Maso speaks about the community of saints in one of her excerpts. She gives little bits of information about each saint and how they are all one big community striving to protect those on earth and provide happiness for all they can. There are many saints, each having their own specialties and interests, but they are all bonded together with the common interest in loving and obeying God and serving the people on earth.

At the end of Twelfth Night, there are many communities that are joined together out of love. Orsino and Viola strengthen their communion with one another through marriage. Olivia ends up, by default, marrying Viola’s twin brother Sebastian. Through the twins, Olivia and Orsino are joined together in communion with one another. Another marriage makes a communion with Maria, a maidservant of Olivia, with Olivia’s uncle, Sir Toby. In another one of Ms. Maso’s excerpts she speaks about the love of a mother for her child during a time of war. The love of her child is strengthened by the overwhelming feeling of wanting to protect them from what is going on elsewhere in the world. She also speaks of a love of a mother and daughter in another excerpt, this time the mother is providing an organ for her dying daughter.

There are also communities that can be made in the mind. I mentioned before the excerpt in which a mother is providing an organ for her dying daughter. The daughter is being hospitalized for her illness and in her medicated state she is hallucinating. During her hallucinations she makes up a story of “Young H” and the community of which he lives. In “Twelfth Night” there are also communities in the mind. Orsino believes he loves Olivia, when in reality he loves the idea of being in love. Another circumstance would be when Malvolio, a servant of Olivia believes Olivia is in love with him. What aids this assumption is a letter he receives which he thinks came from Olivia when in reality it came from Olivia’s maidservant Maria pretending to be Olivia.

Being in communion with one another is seen all over in many different ways. We are one big community her at Loyola, our class is a community, we are in communion with those we live with as well as our families and friends. Because community is so clearly seen in everyday life it is not surprising that they can be found in Ms. Maso’s works as well as Twelfth Night.

Misconstrued Identity

Misconstrued identity and deception can cause many toils between people. Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night is a prime example of how these faults can play out. When one’s identity gets misinterpreted for another’s, a stir of emotions follows. With a bit of truth and honesty though, all can be mended.
The literary classic, Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night, is a story rich with identity theft and deception. Viola plays the role of a man in an effort to secure a place for herself in a new city. She leads on those around her and falsifies her character as a young, intelligent male. Though she remains honest throughout the entire story, she only hides are actual identity. This lie leads to a complicated love triangle with herself tangled in the middle; Viola has deceived the people she has befriended. Nearing the end of the story, the true depth of her deception is revealed with the reemergence of her twin brother. His appearance reveals Viola’s hidden identity and the lie she’s been living all along. Her friends finally see her deception towards them but understand her motive behind it all. She only wanted to protect and take care of herself, for she felt she was all alone in the world. It was through her honesty that all was mended.
During Italian Week, I attended a speaker regarding the judicial case of Sacco and Vanzetti. In the small, industrial town of South Braintree, Massachusetts a terrible murder occurred during the 1920’s. On April 15, 1920, two paymasters were walking down the street carrying a large sum of money in two large cases. Just passing a shoe factory, the two were shot at point blank range, while a car pulled up and stole the money cases. Through the compilation of witness accounts, the police report claimed that the suspects were of “apparent Italian lineage.” Media reports following the incident stated that the scandal must have been the work of Italian anarchists. In search for the suspects, citizens and police were to look for “two suspicious looking men.” Sacco and Vanzetti, unfortunately, fit this description. The two were arrested but were not told upon what charges; both being involved in anarchist activities thought that this was the reasoning behind it. Sacco and Vanzetti acted very suspiciously during their questionings and were very uncooperative in answering any questions—constantly they changed their stories. These acts led to police suspicions. Sacco and Vanzetti were seen as “un-American” because they were immigrants, anarchists, atheists, and draft-dodgers. Despite the best of efforts, the defendants were held in a cage. Following a long trial and court decision, the two were sentenced to death. Unfortunately, there was no concurring evidence and Sacco and Vanzetti were wrongly murdered. This case is a prime example of misconstrued identity. The two Italians were mistaken for guilty and the media deceived the public through biased reports. Contrary to Shakespeare’s story, their honesty did not save them in the end.
Misconstrued identity and deception is a part of human nature and can usually be altered through honesty. Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night shows this claim to be true in the actions of the character Viola. Her falsified male identity is forgiven through the use of her honesty. Unfortunately, in American history, honesty isn’t always this successful. In the case of Sacco and Vanzetti, their honesty is overlooked and they were wrongfully murdered due to their Italian identity. Prejudices against them blurred the perspective of society and they were not seen for who they were. They were innocent men killed for a fake reason simply because of the deception of public opinion and their misconstrued identities as murderers.

The Use of Humor

Spamalot tells the tale of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table and of the quest for the grail that all of these men went on. It is identical to the movie Monty Python in words and songs with dances were added to make it a musical play. The play, like all Monty Python, is in the style of a sketch-comedy, a very low budget sketch comedy. Some examples of the cheapness were the lack of horses, but this added to the comedy in the play. The movie was so low budget that the makers did not have enough money in their budget to fund horses, so they used coconuts to sound like hooves on a road; this held true in the play. The play is difficult to relate to a Shakespearean play, but the use of comedy in both can be linked in purpose and effect.

This past Saturday night I saw this play, “Spamalot” at the Hippodrome Theatre in Baltimore as part of Loyola’s Best of Baltimore. The show itself included pretty terrible acting; none of the actors or actresses could hold a note. However, Monty Python is Monty Python and the comedy, while very stupid and irrational, was still humorous to me.

The plot of the story starts with King Arthur setting out to try to find Knights for his Roundtable. On his way he has to convince many of his stature of King of England. The king recruits five knights, a peasant-turned-knight named Sir Galahad, Sir Bedevere, Sir Robin, Sir Lancelot, and Sir Not-Appearing-In-This-Play. The five knights assemble at Camelot and agree to stick to the idea that “what happens in Camelot stays in Camelot,” a clear joke towards the Los Vegas motto. While the knights are partying it up, God contacts them telling them to find the Holy Grail.

The knights then set out on the quest to find the Holy Grail and meet many interesting characters along the way, including some very stereotypically rude Frenchmen. On their quest they are given other tasks, but the most notable and prominent task they are given is that they must create a Broadway musical to achieve their goal of finding the Holy Grail. The dilemma, as they see it, is that they are lacking the essential quality of making a Broadway show. This flaw was pointed out by Sir Robin and states that in order to make a Broadway show, one must have Jews. The knights are set in to a panic and set off on another quest, this time for Jews.

In the end the knights find out that they don’t need Jews and that they were in a Broadway musical the entire time. Also, Sir Lancelot marries a young boy named Herbert whom he saved from a forced marriage to a girl. Other side-plots include King Arthur’s defeat of a man-eating rabbit that turned out to be a puppet, and his marriage to The Lady of the Lake, who had been guiding him all along.

Humor is put to many different uses in plays; sometimes it is used to mock reality and sometimes it has no purpose other than to make you laugh. While the play Spamalot employs both, Shakespeare’s The Twelfth Knight mainly uses comedy and comedic characters to poke fun at reality and at the stupidity of the other characters. For example, the clown is perhaps the most intelligent and well-informed character in the play. His use of comedy jests at the ignorance of most of the other characters in the play. Also, the maid of Lady Olivia uses comedy to poke fun at the other characters.

In Monty Python’s Spamalot, one could argue that there is a clear mocking of the upper-class and their mindset. Similarly, in Shakespeare’s Twelfth Knight, it is the characters in the lower echelons that seem to be the wisest and most rational. In both of these cases the lower-class individuals use humor as a way to express their mental superiority over the “higher” class. However, the humor is usually lost with the slow minds of the individuals being made-fun-of and is only usually understood by the audience. This lack of understanding by the characters also helps point out their inferiority or their slowness.