The Holocaust

This topic was of great interest to me for several reasons. First of all, last year I worked on a scholarship application that was for the Holocaust Rememberance Project. Basically, all I read and talked about for a month of my life was the Holocaust. I was writing a paper about how the Holocaust effects us today, but in order to do it I read a HUGE book on the Holocaust. It was very hard to read, but well worth it. Never again will I take the Holocaust lightly.

The other reason that I identify with the Holocaust is because of current genocides. In many ways, the genocide in Rwanda is what caused the civil war in Zaire in the late 1990's. Rwandans fleeing their country poured into Zaire, and they brought with them a great deal of unrest. In the end the man who took over Zaire, President Kabila, was a Rwandan refugee. This war, a direct result of genocide, forever changed my life.

Because of all of this, I greatly appreciated the opportunity that we had to hear from Elane, a Holocaust survivor. Very few people in this world will ever have that chance, and so I count myself blessed. I am doubly blessed because after class I joined a few other students in eating lunch with her. This was once in a lifetime opportunity, and I learned that not onliy is she a Holocaust survivor, she is one of the smartest and most engaging people I have ever known. She knows something about practically everything, and she has stories that really do match her lifetime. I even appreciated the fact that she is not a Christian. I think a lot of Christians would like to convince themselves the Holocaust's purpose was to cause all of the Jews to come to Christ. While some certainly did, we are fooling ourselves if we think that was the overwhelming effect of the Holocaust. Elane is a truly vibrant person who has overcome much in her life, and it was a HUGE blessing to be able to spend just an hour of my life in her presence.

Self Image

Hmmm.. It's funny how we complain about the pressure that guys put on girls to look good, and then we in return have unrealistic expectations for them... Just a random thought that doesn't relate too much to this, except that a lot of girls do base their self image on what they think that guys think about them... Interesting how yesterday Nick said in chapel that if we put others down, we are putting down God's creation... A different perspective then the one we often take... We just think if someone is goodlooking or not, we don't stop to consider that they are God's creation...

I think every girl has struggled with body image at one point or another... However, I always felt a certain amount of guilt for the fact that I really didn't feel that badly about my body... Sure, I'd love to be a size two, who wouldn't? But while my friends sit around talking about how fat they are and how much they hate their bodies, I always thought I was fairly good looking :) I carry a few extra pounds, no denying that, but for some reason I could always see that God had made me beautiful... It's kind of weird... The only reason I ever really want to change is that I know that I am unhealthy, and if I'm unhealthy at this point it does not bode well for my future. Diabetes is common on both sides of my family, so I know that I need to be careful for the rest of my life. However, I know that God has made me beautiful in my own way, and I don't really care what others think... Someday there'll be a perfect guy for me who maybe won't be soo goodlooking in the world's eyes, but I'll think he is... and he'll think i am too... and that's all that will matter...

So for me, it's not a matter of a poor self image... But sometimes I worry that I'm not extremely bothered by my extra weight when I know that it is unhealthy and could lead to problems in the future...

And that's my blog for the week... Hopefully that's kind of what it was supposed to be....

My Strengths Relating to Alcohol

Well, I'm not sure exactly what we were supposed to talk about this week... :) Oh well, I think I'll discuss how my strengths can relate to alcohol... How's that sound?

There's really not that much to say... But I'll try to drag this out for an obnoxious length of time :)

Belief- Well, this one's kind of obvious to me. I strongly believe that drinking before 21 is wrong and that getting drunk is wrong no matter how old you are. So, I guess I'm saying that this strength will help me to stand firm against drinking, even though it might make some people mad at me.

Empathy- Hmm... I can be the person who tucks them into bed. In this case I might not be such a good empathizer, cuz I don't really understand the temptation... But I can do my best. Also, maybe if I empathize with people before they drink, they'll less likely to do it in the first place. That could be a good way to use it!

Developer- I'm not sure how this one really relates... I guess if i try to make people more confident in themselves and educated on alcohol, they'll be less likely to drink... Cuz they'd have a better self-confidence and all...

Connectedness- It hurts people when you hurt yourself. My friends that have drank have definitely hurt me, so I know what that's like. I can encourage people not to drink from that angle, that they don't want to hurt others. And that will also be another thing that keeps me from drinking, because I know that what I do affects others and I do not want to hurt other people...

Adaptability- Again, not a huge one that relates... But I guess I can deal with stuff without having to go to alcohol to console me... Not really sure :)

Well, there's my take on it... and hopefully that blog will fulfill my duty for the week :)

My Strengths In Action

Belief- Belief has often beena liability to me because I hold soooo strongly to what I believe... This often makes me unwilling to compromise on issues, and sometimes I offend people because I believe in something so strongly. However, I can also use this in many good ways. One way that I can use it this semester is to hold strongly to my beliefs in classes, but at the same time I am interested in strengthening my beliefs with a more firm foundation, and that is somethind I can do in my classes this year.

Empathy- Sometimes empathy causes problems for me because I feel so deeply for others that it effects my emotions and I cannot function properly, but I can also use this strength in good ways. One example of this is that when my friends are having hard times I can be there to encourage and help them, which is something I love to do and hope I can do this semester.

Developer- Sometimes people get annoyed because I want so badly for them to excel, it can become a little bit overbearing and that is hard for people to handle... and it can start to become an issue of me trying to control them. However, I can use this during this year to teach people how to do different things, not anything big, but just little things like when new people come to work in the caf I can help them out.

Connectedness- This can sometimes give me trouble because I get soooo upset when people do something that hurts someone else. I am SO incredibly aware of how everything people do effects everyone else that I often get angry with my friends when they do something stupid that hurts me or someone else. But I think I can use this strength this year in that it helps me to govern my actions. I am careful to try not to do anything stupid that will have a bad effect on someone else because I am aware that the things I do effect other people besides just me... so I can use this strength this semester to keep me from making stupid mistakes that will hurt others as well as myself.

Adaptability- Sometimes I drive people crazy because I do not really care when my plans are changed. i love for something new and different to be thrown in the works, and other people do not... so when I try to change something last minute people get annoyed... But this is a good strength for me to have because it helps to balance out the fact that i like to get everything done and am something of a perfectionist... it helps me to relax a little bit :) also, in this tought time for me transitioning into life in the states, it does help me not to miss my home in Cameroon sooo much...this is the strength that will keep me sane this semester...