Blog backgrounds

So I stopped by to see what everyone was up to and I just wanted to say that everytime I come on the blog has a new background and I love it!

: )

hahahah lindsey

well i know what to say...

i had so much fun yesterday at the aids walk!

^ photo props to ms. knowlden

=]

All of a sudden I got really excited about blogging...!
then when I got here I realized I dont have anything to say..
hahaha.


Bonner LOVE!

excitement!

helloo all

i just wanted to say thanks for the votes! i'm extremely honored that you guys are confident in my ability to represent all of our b-love with hannah on a national level. congrats to bernadette and all of the other frosh who were nominated as well!

: )

today we're finishing up our proposal for the conference and amanda should be putting it up on the wiki, so stop by, take a look, and give us some feedback! this is our "manifesto", if you will, for what we hope to accomplish as a bonner program this year and how we plan on reaching our goal. this is our plan of action, the beginning of our legacy and i'm so excited to get started.

much bonner love,

michelle

<3

Congratulations Hannah, Michelle and Alternate Bernadette!

Congratulations Hannah, Michelle and Alternate Bernadette!!

I am so excited for you to enjoy the privilege of being our 2009-2010 Bonner Congress Representatives. I cannot tell you what an honor it is to be able to attend the Congress meetings twice a year and feel the excitement of being there with 150-300 other Bonners from across the country. As a former Congress Rep myself, it was phenomenal to not just be told that I was a part of a national network, but to see it and feel it. It is a chance for you to shine and showcase who you are to the Foundation and other programs nationally. You will get the chance to give workshops, acquire new skills, meet national community partners or one day get connected to an internship or job. You also have an opportunity to build up our own program by coming back and telling us about new ideas, implementing projects and action items to strengthen our program.

Mark your calendars, this year's Bonner Congress Meeting is October 23-25, 2009 at the University of Richmond in Virginia. This school has the largest Bonner Program in the country and its staff and students will definitely give you a memorable opportunity.

Please don't hesitate to ask me if you have any questions or concerns about this outstanding opportunity. I feel a lot of love towards Bonner Congress!

Man did this poem jump all over the place! I had to go through it like three times to try and figure out what was going on. I'd say that it felt overall dark and moody at the beginning. Maybe it was the way I read it the first time through, but I guess it's what hit me. After reading what Meghan wrote, I think I understood it better. Perhaps it's about perseverance. Times are going to get tough and it takes strong moral fiber to take them in stride and work hard through them. I'm sure that we've all understood that we have taken on a lot of responsibility and it might be hard at times. But patience is key and if you can knuckle down in the clutch, you'll make it through.

poem...

This poem sort of upset me. I felt that they did not have a positive attitude as to why they were serving the community. they gave the whole perception that they were the upper class who is doing their part in society by serving those who are less fortunate. I think that if you are someone who is in a position where they have money and are working with those who do not, they should be humble and not flaunt what they have. The see what they are doing as a charity instead of the right thing to do...which it to help the rest of mankind succeed. when you are working with someone who does not have access to what you might have you should help them try and gain access and build a relationship with the person not serve once because it looks good form something or someone then leave. Its like writing only the introduction for an English paper. It states what you might do but then you get no details about how it you came to some conclusion.
These women most likely have no clue what these people have had to struggle through and are not in a position to be judging.

-all you need is love

The lovers of the poor

This poem reminded me a lot of things we discussed in orientation earlier this year. One of the things being the reason we do service. Everyone has different reasons for reaching out to the community. Some people, like these women, seem to do it because they want to keep a good image. These women want people to see them doing service and to think that they are nice people. Another thing we discussed is, working with the poor and not working for the poor. These women do not even try to put themselves in these people's shoes. They look at them like they are less because they are poor. But who are they to judge? It is really important when doing service to know that maybe you have never been in these people's situations but you must try to understand them. It is important to learn about a situation before you judge it or the people in it. Though sometimes situations make you uncomfortable you can't give up. Even when you can't relate to a situation you have to try and understand the feelings of the people.

I'm sorry this is really brief. I'm sick and looking at my computer screen is killing me.

B-Love.

"the lovers of the poor" poem

This poem portrays upper class women who are doing "charity work." The only reason they agreed to "help" was for the publicity for doing something for others. The women in the poem do not really care about the people they are supposed to be helping; if they did care, then they would not be so eager to leave and reenter their comfortable lifestyle, and their luxurious home. They do not realize that these poor people cannot escape this hell. They need assistance to get back of their feet again.
To be honest, this poem reminds my of "Housewives of New York," because in that show, even though they are raising money through charity events, the women running them are not doing it for the poor, or the charity. They do it for the fame and publicity. They set up the charity events as if it is their own party, and the focus is never really set on the charity, but what they are wearing to the event, and when the hairdresser will be arriving at their house. I think that it is great that they are doing something of the community, but I think that it may be done for the wrong reasons.

Bonner LoVin <3

Bernadette

Service for Glory

Sooo just like everyone else im not too great with poems but here's what i got from it...

The women in this poem come from an upper class sheltered environment. They had preconceived notions about what type of service they were going to be doing. They were not prepared for the reality is which they walked into. Their only motivation to serve was the glory and praise they would get from others of their own class. They had no passion for these impoverished people. Their only emotions where grotesque. They wanted nothing more than to hand money out and flee from the reality of this form of life. At one point they talked about possibly conducting their service in an area that was not wrecked with so much havoc. They wanted to serve in a cleaner environment. This desire completely defeats the purpose of service. If one does not do service to truly better the areas that so desperately need a hand then they are simply doing service for glory...

I believe that many of us will face similar circumstances in our work site. We may encounter something we are not prepared to believe. We can be faced with the choice of fleeing with "our skirts barely touching the floor" or we can square our shoulders and face it head on. One of the points of our service work is to challenge us. It is when we are challenged and forced to overcome obstacles that we truly grow as a person.


B-Love baabaay

Not that bad

So I had to chose between writing this and my theater paper and since I have such bad procrastination problems this won. I actually enjoyed the poem though and thought it was written really well and it still greatly reflects todays society. I think that the rich women described are actually really reflective of a lot of people in todays society. People want to help and join a cause then when they actually get there they have that moment of what am I doing... the farther away from a comfort zone the harder it is for many to go. The woman in this poem decided at the end that they would find a lesser slum and thats almost what people do by just doing things like donating food and money. Once you get into the situation it can be scary and you may want to run and hide and get away from it just like many do after volunteering in places like soup kitchens and clinics. I feel as if I had this revelation myself after the service at Grand Street,once we got there and I thought to myself what in the world am I doing this is crazy, this is dangerous, what did I get myself into just as the ladies did. I stuck it out though and thought of the joy the people would get out of just our few hours and we were helping those who really needed it and I almost wish the ladies from the poem just sucked it up too and stuck it out because after meeting the people and seeing the change you made it becomes a whole new place.

Cheater, cheater, pumpkinnn eater!!

Ok... so I cheated a little bit by reading Gretchen's questions and checkin out what everyone else thinks. But, thank you all and here's what I am taking out of this...

We, as Bonners cannot act like these women. We need to maybe educate ourselves on the areas that we are going to and get to know them rather than shy away from them. The more we know, the more we can be understanding and want to help. You can't help someone if you have no clue what they are doing, where they are, how they are living, or their current economic situations. The ladies in the poem were upset that they were going to the slum, but it was the "bad" slum. I guess they wanted to go to a better slum? We can relate this to the "good" and "bad" areas of Albany. Personally, I think we need to STRIVE to work in the "bad" areas... target the worst and work out ways out from there. We are a powerful group of people and have a lot of potential to make huge differences. So lets take this poem to give us even more ambition and be just the opposite of these women!!!

B-Looove <3

April

I THINK I CAN! I THINK I CAN!!

I know that poetry can be hard to dissect, but you need, and some of you have made really solid attempts. Do not admit failure. You should not be conquered. "Our greatest fear is not that we are inadequate, but we are powerful beyond measure..."

I'd like you guys who had some difficulty to try again. Consider the following:

1. Who are these ladies? What socioeconomic class? What is their attitude towards the people they serve?

2. What images come to mind?

3. How does their reaction relate to your feelings on working with the poor? How might your feeling be the same or different?

4. How does this relate to your perspective towards the community?

5. Other thoughts....

YOU CAN DO IT!! YOU CAN DO IT!!

hmmmm.......

hmmm.....Ok well this poem I will admit is a little abstract for me. I found it hard to dissect and hard to find a setting or background to view the poem in. I did like the description and rhythm of the poem though that was kinda cool it was just hard to understand what she was getting at I guess. When she wrote this she probably had some idea some sort of image that she was describing but (even though she uses descriptive words) she does not write descriptively she writes more expressively. There are probably allot of ways to interpret this poem but I don't know I'm having trouble.

Peace out,
T.J.

P.S.
I would have responded sooner but I couldn't find the poem at first hahaha! Cya tmrw.

Lovers of the Poor Response

Like everybody else I had to read through this poem a few times to finally get the gist. What I got from this poem is that the Ladies Betterment League was made up of a group of sheltered and spoiled women. They wanted to help out their community by going to the slum, but when they got there they were too appalled by what they saw and instead of staying in the slum and doing what they came to do, they chickened out and left. At the end of the poem Brooks writes that the women were careful to not let their coats touch the walls showing their condescending attitude toward the people they were supposed to be helping. The one thing I think we Bonners should take away from this poem is that when we go to our service sites we should never believe that we are better than the people we serve. We should act as their equals because we are their equals. Never should we look at them in disdain as these women did.

Ok guys I tried my best at figuring out this poem so I hope I made some sense! See you all Thursday:)

WOW

Sooo..
like everyone else I had a lot of difficulty with the poem.
it seems to me like there is a group of women, who feel like they should help the poor.
they are all upper class women..
so they go to this..place..
and they try and help these people who, to them, arent really people at all, but kind of their own species.
and they look down on them.
so although they are providing services they are not doing it in the right way nor for the right reasons.
they think the people are dirty and appalling.
and they are trying to get it over with as quickly as possible so they can return to the safety of their homes.
the only reason they are really doing it is so others will praise them.

what i got out of the poem is the thing that we talked about before.
service "with" the poor and marginalized not "to" them.
we should be serving because we want to make a difference in the long run..
not just to get it over with.


but i still need it explained more...

Gwendylon Brooks

"Keeping their scented bodies in the centerOf the hall as they walk down the hysterical hall,They allow their lovely skirts to graze no wall,Are off at what they manage of a canter,And, resuming all the clues of what they were,Try to avoid inhaling the laden air."

I too am pretty confused about this poem, poetry has never been my strong suit. However, this portion of the poem seemed to make sense to me. I feel that it's about these older women that do service just to make themselves look better and feel like that are doing service and helping their communities. However, they do not want to get any of the filth on them as they leave. In other words they do not want to actually get really involved with those that they are helping. They want to go in for a day and then leave for a week or month and forget about those that they served. They do not want to put in the time to actually make changes that will positively impact the community they serve.

i gave it a shott...

so this poem for me wasn't quite clear. i wasnt sure exactly what the topic being presented was referring to. The one thing i did get out of it was near the end of the poem it goes on to say about how these women are seeing things like "news paper rugs" and other situations of poverty that they most likely have never seen before. I think i can relate to this situation completely. Not saying that im a stuck up girl like these women are coming off as but i have never really been put in the position where poverty has affected my life personally. Lately with the trips like habitat, my eyes have been opened tremendously. so i think this poem is saying that we need to take these women with us on our next bonner day out....see you all very sooooon :]

b0nnnerrrr l0ve,
jacquieee

…¿

ok. so, like April, I had trouble reading this poem. And even with the other posts, I am still a bit lost. but what I do love about this poem is it's style. It was full of alliterations, oxymorons, and caesura. As to the story being told, if there was one, I'm lost. I see the descriptions of two contrasts but i still need help. i dont think i got the point of the poem.

Cant wait to see everyone this Thursday¡ 

Always B-Lovin It,

Gabe¿¡

g brooks!

i'd just like to point out before i respond to this poem, that i LOVE gwendolyn brooks. you guys should look up, "we real cool" by her. it's one on my favorites.

: )

so the important thing to remember when reading poetry, is not to beat the meaning out of it. poetry is thought transcribed onto paper and i think it's important to be sensitive to those emotions of the voice of the poem. my favorite section was this one:

Sleek, tender-clad, fit, fiftyish, a-glow, all

Sweetly abortive, hinting at fat fruit,
Judge it high time that fiftyish fingers felt
Beneath the lovelier planes of enterprise.
To resurrect. To moisten with milky chill.
To be a random hitching-post or plush.
To be, for wet eyes, random and handy hem.
Their guild is giving money to the poor.
The worthy poor. The very very worthy
And beautiful poor. Perhaps just not too swarthy?
perhaps just not too dirty nor too dim
Nor--passionate

the listing of these descriptions as well as the feelings that these words connote, for example, the lush and delicious weight that brooks tries to convey when she writes, "hinting at fat fruit" makes the reader feel the luxury enjoyed by the upper-class that she's describing. this is in stark contrast to the images conjured up by her descriptions of the poor, primarily focusing upon the rotting stench, which one may possibly believe alludes to the fear and repulsion some feel towards the poor- as if they are already dead and beyond saving. i really enjoyed this poem because of it's raw emotion and passion that brooks puts behind her words. i think each of us should feel just this passionate about the work and journey that we're about to embark on.

with lots of b-love,

michelle

response to lovers of the poor

i'm not too good with poetry either april, but this is what i got out of it, hope it helps!

so these pompous upper class ladies from the ladies betterment league get to this place where their suppose to help the poor. so technically they're doing good by being there and helping, but it seems to me that they don't really care about the people they're helping. they see the people as objects of their charity instead of real people who are only separated from them by social status. so basically they're there for the wrong reasons and hope that other people will see them doing good and whatever. these ladies in all their prim and proper splendor know that once they have done what they set out to do, they can get the heck out of the grimy place and return to their lives of luxury and not give the poor a second thought. at one point i think they flip out because they see a rat and want to know if there is a way to find a cleaner slum so they won't have to deal with the vermin. because of this, these women seem shallow and inauthentic in their deeds because their hearts are not in the right place.


this poem addresses something that we briefly discussed earlier in orientation, and that's solidarity with those we serve. I believe fr. ken mentioned something about "service with the poor" as opposed to "service to the poor." sometimes during our service we may be forced outside of our comfort zone as we encounter "rats" and other unexpected unattractive aspects of our service. however, if we let the "rats" determine how we do our service, then chances are, we'll be just as shallow as those pompous women. we have to face these obstacles in order to overcome them. sometimes we'll have to get down right on the level as those we serve, become poor, in order to truly make a difference. in this way, we can serve "with" rather than just "to" or "for" although this seems really scary, this type of service is most often the most rewarding type.

i don't really know if this makes sense slash works in context, but this is what i was feelin

b love!

Helpppp...

So I am TERRIBLE with poetry/ tearing things apart && as bad as this might sound, I am soooooo lost. I just read this post 3 times and I am still not getting it. Can anyoneee please help me?

B<3

Aprilll

September 17th, Social Justice Reflection Assignment #1

The Lovers of the Poor

by Gwendolyn Brooks
from the book, Blacks
1963

THE LOVERS OF THE POOR

arrive. The Ladies from the Ladies' Betterment League
Arrive in the afternoon, the late light slanting
In diluted gold bars across the boulevard brag
Of proud, seamed faces with mercy and murder hinting
Here, there, interrupting, all deep and debonair,
The pink paint on the innocence of fear;
Walk in a gingerly manner up the hall.
Cutting with knives served by their softest care,
Served by their love, so barbarously fair.
Whose mothers taught: You’d better not be cruel!
You had better not throw stones upon the wrens!
Herein they kiss and coddle and assault
Anew and dearly in the innocence
With which they baffle nature. Who are full,
Sleek, tender-clad, fit, fiftyish, a-glow, all
Sweetly abortive, hinting at fat fruit,
Judge it high time that fiftyish fingers felt
Beneath the lovelier planes of enterprise.
To resurrect. To moisten with milky chill.
To be a random hitching-post or plush.
To be, for wet eyes, random and handy hem.
Their guild is giving money to the poor.
The worthy poor. The very very worthy
And beautiful poor. Perhaps just not too swarthy?
perhaps just not too dirty nor too dim
Nor--passionate. In truth, what they could wish
Is--something less than derelict or dull.
Not staunch enough to stab, though, gaze for gaze!
God shield them sharply from the beggar-bold!
The noxious needy ones whose battle’s bald
Nonetheless for being voiceless, hits one down.
But it’s all so bad! and entirely too much for them.
The stench; the urine, cabbage, and dead beans,
Dead porridges of assorted dusty grains,
The old smoke, heavy diapers, and, they’re told,
Something called chitterlings. The darkness. Drawn
Darkness, or dirty light. The soil that stirs.
The soil that looks the soil of centuries.
And for that matter the general oldness. Old
Wood. Old marble. Old tile. Old old old.
Not homekind Oldness! Not Lake Forest, Glencoe.
Nothing is sturdy, nothing is majestic,
There is no quiet drama, no rubbed glaze, no
Unkillable infirmity of such
A tasteful turn as lately they have left,
Glencoe, Lake Forest, and to which their cars
Must presently restore them. When they’re done
With dullards and distortions of this fistic
Patience of the poor and put-upon.
They’ve never seen such a make-do-ness as
Newspaper rugs before! In this, this “flat,”
Their hostess is gathering up the oozed, the rich
Rugs of the morning (tattered! the bespattered. . . .)
Readies to spread clean rugs for afternoon.
Here is a scene for you. The Ladies look,
In horror, behind a substantial citizeness
Whose trains clank out across her swollen heart.
Who, arms akimbo, almost fills a door.
All tumbling children, quilts dragged to the floor
And tortured thereover, potato peelings, soft-
Eyed kitten, hunched-up, haggard, to-be-hurt.
Their League is allotting largesse to the Lost.
But to put their clean, their pretty money, to put
Their money collected from delicate rose-fingers
Tipped with their hundred flawless rose-nails seems...
They own Spode, Lowestoft, candelabra,
Mantels, and hostess gowns, and sunburst clocks,
Turtle soup, Chippendale, red satin "hangings,"
Aubussons and Hattie Carnegie. They Winter
In Palm Beach; cross the Water in June; attend,
When suitable, the nice Art Institute;
Buy the right books in the best bindings; saunter
On Michigan, Easter mornings, in sun or wind.
Oh Squalor! This sick four-story hulk, this fibre
With fissures everywhere! Why, what are bringings
Of loathe-love largesse? What shall peril hungers
So old old, what shall flatter the desolate?
Tin can, blocked fire escape and chitterling
And swaggering seeking youth and the puzzled wreckage
Of the middle passage, and urine and stale shames
And, again, the porridges of the underslung
And children children children. Heavens! That
Was a rat, surely, off there, in the shadows? Long
And long-tailed? Gray? The Ladies from the Ladies'
Betterment League agree it will be better
To achieve the outer air that rights and steadies,
To hie to a house that does not holler, to ring
Bells elsetime, better presently to cater
To no more Possibilities, to get
Away. Perhaps the money can be posted.
Perhaps they two may choose another Slum!
Some serious sooty half-unhappy home!--
Where loathe-love likelier may be invested.
Keeping their scented bodies in the center
Of the hall as they walk down the hysterical hall,
They allow their lovely skirts to graze no wall,
Are off at what they manage of a canter,
And, resuming all the clues of what they were,
Try to avoid inhaling the laden air.

agreed april

: )

a bonner love dinner would be lovely.

i'm done with all of my classes by five thirty everyday.

how about everyone else?

One-on-One

So I just thought I would share a few of my thoughts today as we are approaching the time where we all will begin out service. I was very pleased with my one-on-one with Gretchen today and I am SO looking forward to a very productive year. I hope everyone is well settled in now that the first week of classes are over.

On another note, I think we should have Bonner Dinner. When is everyone free?!?!?! =) I miss our Bonner Bonding sessions!

B-Love

Aprillll

Mission Statement

"Commitment to building a world that is more just, peaceable, and humane".... This statement was the one that had the biggest impact on me. In every Service site no matter weather it be working with kids to better their literacy skills or working with women who have been abused, each action taken is done to better the world. All service is done with the common, overall goal that in the end, our actions will help to create a safe, peaceful place to live.
I am hoping that this year i will be able to work with center for law and justice. In doing so, the above statement will play a role in everything i do. I am hoping that within the next three years of my presence in the Bonner program, and hopefully long after i graduate, i will be able to take steps toward building a "more just, peaceable, and humane" world.

B-Loooove!

"Delight in Diversity"

To me, as a part of the Franciscan community, I believe that diversity is something that all people at Siena, not only Bonners, need to find delight in. I hope that through the Bonner Leadership Program, I am able to develop great skills in dealing with diversity. I also want to work closely with the admissions office to see how we can help them and the Multicultural Center promote diversity on campus. I truly believe that you haven't had a real "Bonner experience" if you haven't, at one time or another, been thrown into a culture that is completely different than your own. I will feel like I have accomplished a lot this year if I am able to have a whole new experience! So, my goal is to expand on the skills that I gained last year while at the Boys and Girls Club to broaden the horizons of these children that have so much potential.

B-Loveeeee

"a community where members work together in friendship and respect"

This line in the mission statement really stood out to me. I believe that it connects a lot of things we do as Bonners. When we reach out to the community we need to be aware of diversity and respect those around us. But we also have to respect each other as a team. We are working together for a common goal to help others. By becoming friends we can help each other grow so much more. We can learn more about ourselves and also how to deal with all different types of people. When we create friendships at our service sites we create a relationship of trust and dependency. I know the freshman can not yet relate to this but I know all the second year bonners can. It is really important to make an impact on the people you work with and also the community you are aiming to help.

Siena Mission Statement

"...affirmation of the unique worth of each person"

Through my service I plan on embodying the tolerance and acceptance that St. Francis exemplified. I want to be exposed to different groups of people and make sure that everyone I serve I treat as my equal. Just because I am helping someone does not mean I can't learn from them. Every person is worth something on this planet and we all have something to offer. I want to be sure that through my service I am not only going to help others, but I will also learn from them. There is still so much I don't know and that is why I am so excited to start the year and meet as many people as possible.

First off I would like to point out that in these last few days of meeting and bonding with one another, we have created our own community. What's most important about communities is that they have the possibility to grow. I feel that through this program and the service that we will provide, we will have the opportunity to have our community grow with those around us.

We have already begun to fulfill the vision that I believe St. Francis believed in. His vision of a diverse community of friendship can be noted in today's exercise. Diversity does not always have to be in relation to ethnicity or home location. As we saw today, our group is very diverse in how we interact with one another. Some of us are go-getters, while others like to sit back, listen, and analyze. This not only shows that we have already obtained delight in diversity, but have also shown the unique worth that each person holds.

Our community will continue to grow throughout our journey as Bonner Leaders. With each new member of our community, our diversity will continue to grow as well. This is what I believe St. Francis was striving for. If we continue to maintain the friendship and respect that I have seen in this program thus far, I have no doubts that building a better world is within our reach.

Embodying the Franciscan way.

The Franciscan way is to treat all as equals, but it is not only to treat them as equals it is also to give them equal opportunities. something I have realized this week is that no matter how hard some people try to improve them selves or their lives it is impossible. It is not impossible because they are not working hard enough or they don't care enough, it is simply because they don't have the means or the knowledge to do it. Keeping the teachings of Francis in mind I would like to educate myself to learn how to better serve the community and how to give back to the community. I would like to learn how to create or provide the means and knowledge necessary for people in bad situations to get out of that situation and break the cycle. I want to be able to teach these people how they can better their life and also teach them to better the lives of others.

Siena mission statement- Father Ken

In my future experience with Bonner and in Siena college, I hope to commit to the Circles of Mercy women's center as my service site in hopes of creating a new community partnership with the rape crisis center that Circles of Mercy affiliates itself with. As a student, I entered the college as a psychology major in respect to studying an area that helps families, primarily women and children, with personable counseling to assist their difficult home lives, relationships, careers, financial status, etc. At Siena, I strive to use the knowledge that I learn from my professors to better help the women at Circles of Mercy from a professional stand point and to understand their personalities and the way in which they think. In addition, I plan to use the experiences that the women at Circles of Mercy went through and my understanding of each of their individual situations to look within myself and carry that understanding back to the Siena community. St. Francis was inspirational due to his bravery and leadership in leaving the walls of his city and exploring the surrounding land which was inhabited by sick and "less than human" individuals. As St. Francis realized by his service to the leppers that it was not their fault that they were deeply affected by the disease, I wish to plunge myself into the depressing, yet impressionable stories of these sexually abused women and use the knowledge learned from my psychology courses to help them see that it is not their fault that they were raped, and they should not be ashamed of themselves or outcasted from the community. I hope to see the beauty in watching the women rebuild their self confidence as I attempt to build up my expertise both in psychology from an academic standpoint and the hands on counseling that I will assist with at Circles of Mercy.
"...affirmation of the unique worth of each person, delight in diversity, appreciation for beauty..."
This is the most inspirational part of the mission statement. It is simple for an occasional volunteer to look at women that has been sexually abused, beaten, neglected, or poor and only feel pity for them. However, these women do not appreciate pity or sympathy; those in real need appreciate empathy...the ability to understand their situation by putting yourself in their own shoes rather than serving them. These women will have suffered far greater than I could imagine, but their situations will give me a deeper understanding of the diverse world around me and take me out of my comfort zone. I hope to help these women find their self worth once more and rebuild their self respect, as well as help the Siena community and other students become more aware of the tragedies that are common even in our surrounding city. I hope I can teach others just how sacred life is, no matter what your situation is, and be able to have other students and members of the Siena community learn from me as much as I will learn from the women at Circles of Mercy.

Chelsea Platt

ok. umm.

"affirmation of the unique worth of each person, delight in diversity"
i chose this line because i feel diversity and uniqueness is important in my service.
as i go to my site and experience people i am excited to learn about their story, their life, and their circumstances. i think that will help me be able to serve them in a way that will be most beneficial to them and it will help me be able to find the good qualities in each person.

diversity is key. i hope to find diversity, not only through Bonner, but also on campus and in all my relationships.

During my first year at Siena I am going to strive to meet knew people and discover "the unique worth of each person." Everyone has different prospectives, ideas, and the best concepts are born through the collaboration of both. I am looking forward to being apart of the Bonner community where we will "work together in friendship and respect" during our service events so that we can accomplish our common goal (to help others!). I am excited to go to my service site, and learn about the lives of the people I will be interacting with, and hopefully be building relationships with. This way I can unravel their, maybe their hidden, talents and unique skills...

Siena Mission Statement-Homeworkk

affirmation of the unique worth of each person,

service with the poor

Fr. Ken pointed out the difference between the word "with" and "for" and it really got me thinking about what a big difference that one tiny change makes.
I think a lot of times in service, we think of the people we serve as "objects" of our service. We don't really do this intentionally, but it does happen. For example, if I was working at a soup kitchen, my primary focus might be ladling out soup. I might get so into scooping out the soup, trying not to spill any or whatever, and i might stop looking at the people i am serving. I might stop seeing them as people like me.
But the truth is, we're all people and i should see these people i am helping as equals, nothing less. It's easy to judge and stereotype individuals, but this year i want to challenge myself to keep an open mind, recognize that beneath those grungy clothes there is a person who has worth and dignity and should never be treated as anything less.
In doing service with the poor, I am looking to better their circumstance, not just serve soup. I want to take into account their needs, and really listen. This will involve getting to know these people as the unique individuals they are, celebrating the diversity, and stepping outside my comfort zone.
This year will be filled with challenges, obstacles, and set backs. However, there is also the opportunity for growth, knowledge, and the ability to make a difference. I am ready for the challanges, so bring it on!

Mission Statement Reaction- Father Ken homework

The parts of this mission statement that I plan to embody while out serving with our community partners would be ' delight in diversity' and ' a community where members work together in friendship and respect'. I think that these two parts of the mission statement each have their own meaning but also are extremely similar. Diversity is something that is always going to exist when it comes to service to others. The people we serve with are diverse. Not just the color of their skin or their economic background but each person has their own story. Working with the community builds relationships allowing each story of the served and serving to come out. When we learn to appreciate the diversity or "find delight" in it, we can appreciate our service a lot more. This is where the second part of the mission statement that I plan to put into place comes in. Working with the diversity of our community partners, we will create a community of working together to better not only the people but to better ourselves. The friendship and respect that will follow these actions will help keep the diversity but also bring a sense of equality.

Siena Mission Statement---Fr. Ken

I guess my favorite part of the Mission Statement is the "delight in diversity" and the "affirmation of unique worth of each person." I love diversity, differences and seeing how every person is or how they do something in their own way. Also, because of diversity, everyone has something to offer to anything. People can shed light on a situation of a new perspective or give a different understanding of an issue or topic.
I would use this in my service in that I would like to do a wide variety of service rather than just one main track. Right now I'm thinking of working in the Fransiscan Center with Emily(vista) because that site seems to be able to connect with many different sites and also gives a way for me to help connect other sites, bonners, and vistas together in working on a project together with a main goal and such. But it also allows me a lot of room so i could eventually increase my Bonner skills and grow and stuff.....you know?

the first official college "assignment"

"affirmation of the unique worth of each person."

.... but what does that mean? words have the ability to provide analysis for various different meanings. the weight that a word holds, the diction a statement incorporates; each component creates a unique blend to call a certain connotation to mind. but what does this say about this phrase' obejctive?
perhaps we can think about this statement quantitatively. how is a person measured? by their income? by the number of friends they have? the hours they have logged? but perhaps this is the wrong way to analyze this statement. perhaps it's not supposed to be measured in numbers and figures, but by something quite different.
so let's break it down, piece by piece.
affirmation- praise and support of what or who something or someone believes, loves, and embodies.
unique- usually a sugar-coated way to say "weird"; complete originality.
worth-- the value that something or someone holds.
and finally,
each- every single entity in a group.
what does this mean then?
that regardless of the impressions, the stereotypes, the grudges, and most importantly, the differences we have about one another, we are all human beings and worthy of being loved and cared for.
i cannot honestly sit here and say exactly, action by action, how i plan on emobodying this call to arms of sort. all i can promise is to love.

Siena Mission Statement

-- a community where members work together in friendship and respect --

This section of the Siena College mission statement really speaks to what I hope to accomplish this year as the Bonner Senior Intern. I want to work with all of the Bonners to build a community of leaders that will to work together as great friends with a common goal of bettering the community of Siena's campus and the even larger community of Albany.

Foundations Homework

St. Francis of Assisi was a great leader, he embodied exactly what every Siena student needs to be and what specifically every Bonner student is. The Siena mission statement states all of his quality however, out of all of these I feel like a community where members work together in friendship and respect is the most important. If every member of every community worked together and respected one another the world would be a better place. I feel as if there would be no more war or crimes because you don't fight with or steal from the people you respect or that respect you because you wouldn't want to lose the respect or friendship.
In my placement with Bonner I hope to be placed in an organization that helps with young deprived children or with deprived families. I hope to gain a friendship and a good trusting respectful relationship with the ones that I am helping and hopefully making a good enough impact where they may also want to help others someday. I want to be able to work with individuals who out of fear or uninterest I previously would have ignored. I want to be able to open my horizons to all new opportunities and experiences and do as St. Francis of Assisi did and rise above what is expected of me and help out those who don't get helped.

As a Franciscan community, Siena strives to embody the vision and values of St. Francis of Assisi: faith in a personal and provident God, reverence for all creation, affirmation of the unique worth of each person, delight in diversity, appreciation for beauty, service with the poor and marginalized, a community where members work together in friendship and respect, and commitment to building a world that is more just, peaceable, and humane.