Love Inspirational Movies!

In class we watched Freedom Writers.  WOW, that is all I have to say. I love watching a movie that is so inspirational especially when it is based off a true story.  This movie means a lot to me.  While watching this movie, I was thinking in my mind that, thats what I want to do.  I want a challenge like that where I put myself in a situation I know nothing about and then help everyone within the situation get through it.  In this case it was about racism, in "The Blind Side" it was about money, family and living, in "Radio" it was about disabled fitting in with regular society.  As a Child and Youth worker I feel that I would best fit in a place where I don't fit in.  This entire experience in college has been about fitting in, and about feeling safe within the classroom.  Well, I don't fit in, I'm different.  I see things different, I feel different, I do things different, I even say things diffferent, and watching this movie made me realize I'm not meant to fit in.  I'm meant to help others be different.  To be who they were meant to be.  I'm not meant to fix anything, nor am I meant to change everything for the better.  I'm meant to change what I can and let things be the way they are.  Because I was so inspired by this class, I absolutely had to write this blog on the same day.  It reminds me so much of other inspirational movies. 

When I first watched "The Blind Side" all I could think about was how strong that woman was.  She told her family how it was going to go, and she took in that boy.  She didn't trying to make him fit in, all she did was help him be himself and embrace what talents he has. She was incredible with him, she went to his mother and talked to her asking her permission to adopt him.  Although social services thought they were just trying to get him to go to their college, they were proved to be wrong.  At first that seemed like the intention but once social services got involved she changed and gave that boy the choice.  She and her family gave that boy the chance to be big.  She knew that boy like he was always with them.  I think this is so inspiring that without a doubt I would love to have the chance to help someone like that.  Someone who may not have the money to have a roof over their head, someone who may not have enough places to go from home to home to stay at, someone who just needs help but is too shy to ask for it.  I want to be someone who helps those people.

I had to watch "Radio" in a class once, it was such an incredible experience just to watch the movie.  This man gave this boy so much.  This boy had a disability but it never stopped him from going to the school and watching the football team practise.  It brought the whole team closer.  This boy had been terroized by the team, but eventually with the help of the coach became a very important member of the team.  The coach knew that he shouldn't have been treated any different from anyone else, and he made sure he wasn't treated differently.  He was just as important as anyone, and after the team was great with him, the coach got him integrated within the school.  He loved it.  This boy who was treated different because of a disability he has was now with everyone.  It was such a great story that I believe I cried the first time I saw it.  I want to be like that.  The one who makes a small difference in one person's life. 

I know that with time I've got the potential to make a huge difference.  It may not be a change, but it will be a difference for someone.  And with that time I wont fit in with everyone else.  I do things differently from everyone, and thats what makes everyone who they are.  I may not make the difference in some kids life, but someone else who is different will make that difference, and I'll have kids who hadn't had a difference made by another Child and Youth worker, but I'll have my chance to make that difference.  I'm not going to walk away from any kids, but I may help them find someone who would be better off with helping them better than I could ever do.  Child and Youth work is about helping others and if you know you can't do it, help them with finding someone who can.  Grow with everyone you help, and communicate with everyone who has the potential to help... Including Child and Youth you help!

Got Me Thinking!

In class on Friday, there were a few topics that caught my interest to talk about.  We watched two clips from two videos.  We watched part of Martin Luther King's Speech, which I had viewed in first year of the Child and Youth Worker Program.  I had mentioned that I had to watch it in a class from first year and was imediately corrected saying I had the privledge to view it in first year.  Now, I understand why this particular moment is so important, but things have changed since he's done his speech.  The entire world hasn't changed, but I feel that the need for that speech has long passed.  I don't find it to be a privlege to have seen that video.  In all honesty, I found it boring.  I've got lots of friends who have different skin colors as me, and I've seen how some people still treat different ethnic groups.  I treat them the way I wish to be treated in return.  I think, any speech that comes from President Obama is now more relevant than a speech coming from Martin Luther King.  Martin Luther King made his change, and he made a big one, but now Obama is making the change.  Obama being the first black president has impacts so many human beings and gives everyone hope of equality.

Another movie clip we had watched was A Class Divided.  It was very relevant to the topic of racism.  I loved the fact that a teacher had done this as an experiement to get the entire class of third graders to understand what racism feels like.  As we were watching I was thinking I wish this would be implemented in every third grade classroom.  If every third grader were to experience what it's like to be different in a negative outlook then racism would eventually vanish over generations.  You don't really know what its like to be someone else until you walk in their shoes.  Which also reminded me about how I feel while in class.  I get the impression that I think very differently than the rest of the class, and with that, comes difficulties that I don't feel the rest of the class understands.  Hence the idea of judgement when I speak an opinion.  The way I say things come across as negative and are not intentionally meant that way, so my opinion often stays to myself.  So I think A Class Divided would be good for everyone not just for skin color, but for different views and such. 

Talking about racism in this class reminded me about something that had happened at my job.  I work at Sears, and talk to customers on a regular basis.  At Sears, we had just hired a woman of Muslim faith.  She wears a Hijab to cover her hair which in Muslim faith separates man from woman.  She is a really nice person, very caring and sincere.  I saw past the religion.  Anyways, most of Sears' customers are of older generations and, as I've noticed from working there, have very strong opinions.  While I was working one afternoon, my co-worker had gone on break, and one of our customers had come to me and started complaining about Sears hiring my co-worker.  I remember one comment the customer said to me, it will never leave my head, she had said "She doesn't belong here, she should go back to where ever she is from."  I was so offended at this comment, that I let the customer finish, and walked to one of the managers and had to talk to her about it.  I may not have been my co-worker, but I was offended that she was judged so quickly.  After talking to the manager about it, I felt a llittle better, but know now that it would have been okay if I had told the customer I didn't agree, and upset the customer then to sit there and listen to insulting comments to keep the customer happy.  I know my limitations, and I hope to not run into someone like that again.