02.20.09
Posted in AV 2008-09 Domestic at 1:04 pm by eichler.e
If you could go anywhere in the world right now, where would it be?
It’s a question I recently asked my students for an assignment. Using Google Maps, they viewed satellite images of places across the globe and picked one as their destination. Many picked California or Florida to get away from the cold, some picked Africa to make friends and help people. Some wanted to go to Tennessee to hang out with Miley Cyrus. A few ventured as far away as Australia and Japan. And others chose to stay right here in Chicago.
I don’t think I ever would have come up with the South Side of Chicago as my response to that question. But here I am, living and working on the South Side. I teach computers to grades K-8 at St. Margaret of Scotland School. I enjoy teaching all the grades, getting a nice variety of age groups and skills, and getting to know all of the 250 students in the school. Whether they can pronounce my last name or just call me “Ms. E,” all the students express their gratitude for my presence through their excitement for computer class and their desire to spend more time in my classroom. It’s been their enthusiasm that has made it easy for me to get out of bed in below freezing temperatures and come to work this winter.
It’s been a very exciting time to live on the South Side. Up until Inauguration Day last month, Barack Obama was the South Side’s most famous resident. Even though he’s left for D.C., his face is still seen everywhere on the South Side. Throughout the campaign, Election Day, the inauguration, President’s Day, and now Black History Month, it has been a year long celebration of our new president. We see him on tee shirts being sold in drug stores and on street corners, and on the students’ shirts and hats on dress down days. I had my fourth and fifth graders make posters of their favorite things and people to decorate my room. So President Obama is in my classroom too, next to Lil’ Wayne and Derrick Rose.
The South Side of where I live and the South Side of where I work are two very different places. It’s only a 5-10 minute drive from our house on 104th Street to St. Margaret on 99th Street. The houses don’t change too much, but once we cross the Metra tracks on our way to work, there is clear sense that we have left one neighborhood and entered another. While our neighborhood of West Beverly is almost 100% white, St. Margaret is 100% African American. West Beverly is blue collar, middle class. Some St. Margaret students fit that category, but most are closer to the poverty line. The pastor of St. Margaret of Scotland parish, Father Mallette, is a very generous man who often lets parents pay just what they can for tuition. The parish is kept alive by the donations and support of older alumni. Most of those alumni moved out of the parish long ago, for neighborhoods similar to West Beverly.
The South Side gets a bad rap because of its reputation for being segregated and its problems with urban blight and violence. In the fall, all the St. Margaret students could talk about was the tragedy that struck Jennifer Hudson’s family. The actress’ mother, brother and nephew had been brutally murdered, about five miles away from the school. However, I’ve been lucky enough to experience all the good that the South Side has to offer, and only a little of the bad. Today, the whole school attended a play about African American history in a beautiful theater only a few blocks away from the school. It was educational, but the kids still loved it. Helping to tutor after school, I’ve learned more about black history than I ever did when I was in school. And back in Beverly, I’ve met families proud of their South Side roots, from the traditional Catholic pockets to the Hyde Park area where President Obama once lived.
The segregation and violence do exist here on the South Side. But so do a host of wonderful people that make the area so much more than its reputation. For the rest of this year, I’m proud and happy to be right here on the South Side.
Beth Ann Eichler
2008-2009
Chicago, IL
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02.03.09
Posted in AV 2008-09 Domestic at 5:46 pm by admendoza86
“Consult not your fears but your hopes and your dreams. Think not about your frustrations, but about your unfulfilled potential. Concern yourself not with what you have tried and failed in, but with what it is still possible for you to do.” ~ Pope John XXIII
I never anticipated calling my mom and crying to her about another difficult day. I never thought I would break down in front of my roommates and be so completely vulnerable to them in such a short time. I never foresaw coming to a decision to leave my placement, contemplate going home, and learning so much about myself before Christmas.
Before my year as an Augustinian Volunteer, I had done service work before. Granted, it had never been a situation anything like my time here in the Bronx, but I had done enough to know that when you put yourself in a situation of service, you should have no expectations. As much as I had thought I was coming into this experience without expectations, deep down inside of me, even though I was praying for a life altering journey, I did not ever consider it would play out as my first few months did.
I am thankful for every single moment of it.
I think during the period of September to December, I shed more tears than I ever have. I called home and opened myself up completely to my frustrations, sufferings, and fears in life. I was forced into pure honesty with myself and my roommates. For maybe the first time in my life, I looked deep into myself and stepped away from a situation that I knew for my best interest was not right for me.
I lived. I learned. I wept. I grew.
What, then, did this period teach me?
More than anything, I learned about love. I consider myself a pretty blessed person to have so many wonderful individuals in my life, but I know that I too often take them for granted. I find it difficult at times to be 100% vulnerable with myself, let alone with others, especially those I have not known for very long. Yet this experience broke down any boundaries I or my roommates may have had.
Initially, I wanted to do a year of service for the purpose of doing service. I really liked the fact that the Augustinian Volunteers focused so much on community, but I was viewing this as an added bonus to the spiritual and service oriented aspects of the program. I did not realize that living in community would come to be what I have cherished the most about my experience so far.
Katie, Kendra, and Meg have helped me tremendously over the last few months. When I was struggling, they would be there to listen to my problems or give me advice, even if I was not necessarily always the most receptive. They were patient with me as I worked through my difficulties. They were strong and believed in me when I had stopped believing in myself. They have inspired me, challenged me, and taught me about how to live.
I could probably go on for much too long about how each has individually shaped my life for the better this year and not even begin to cover all of their gifts, strengths, and beauty. When I think about community, I look to them and the community we have built on honesty, support, and love with one another. When I think about service, I look to them and see how each has embraced her position and far exceeded what was ever expected of them because they believe in what they’re doing with their heart. When I think about spirituality, I look to them and see how their differences and openness has made me look at my own spirituality and prayer in a different way.
While I feel as though there have been numerous individuals that I have met or been influenced by the last few months, I feel as though the three ladies I have the privilege of sharing this experience with have truly made the most lasting impact. In no small way, they have encouraged me to consult my dreams and hopes, telling me not to sell myself short; they have seen my potential and supported me in seeking it; they have believed that I can do anything I set my mind to and have helped me fall in love with the BX and all the amazing stories it has to share.
Andrea Mendoza
2008 -2009
Bronx, NY
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