Life is a Trip

     In chapter five of her book Life is a Trip, Judith Fein, talks about searching for forgiveness in Vietnam. In this part of the book she recounts the story of when she went to Vietnam because she wanted to know what had happened to them since the war, and how they felt toward Americans after all those years. What she found out surprised her; the Vietnamese felt nothing but forgiveness for the Americans and their country was thriving.  In the following I will discuss some quotes that stood out to me the most from the reading.

“I didn’t want to go to war either. What did I know or care about Lenin and socialism at age eighteen? I wanted to stay home and play rock ‘n’ roll songs on my guitar” (Fein, 35).

     How many soldiers from both sides must have felt this way? Some were drafted and others volunteered, however, there were those who did not know what they had signed up for. It is shocking to think about how many of them did not actually want to be there. Also, some did not care or really understood why they were doing what they were doing. They were much too young; a teenager who’s mind is on teenage stuff and is not mature enough to understand what is going on does not belong in a war. Sadly many of them died before they even had a chance to really start living life.

“We have even met with American soldiers who came back here. They arrived full of guilt and some went to apologize in villages where they had killed people. We embraced them and we even cried together” (Fein, 32).

      What is stated in this quote would not have been possible without forgiveness. Forgiveness is a very powerful and beautiful thing that not everyone is able to give to others or to themselves. These soldiers had been carrying around guilt and resentment for years if not decades. All these are feelings that eat at, destroy and kill you little by little each day. The only way to move on from those weights that pull you down is to apologize, seek forgiveness and to forgive yourself. If it takes a big person to apologize, it takes an even bigger person to forgive. This quote is filled with great emotion that represents the power of forgiveness.

“There was no difference between the American soldiers and me. We were both caught up in a situation and circumstances. When I realized that, I could give up my anger. Now, I think of those soldiers with compassion” (Fein, 35).

      Indeed, there was no difference between them because both sides were fighting for their homeland and what they believed was right. That is what they had in common. It is possible that he saw himself reflected on those American soldiers and realized that in that sense they were just like him. Then, somehow because of that he started to think of them with compassion, maybe even hoping that they would feel the same way toward him. It was that feeling of sameness and identification with the other that helped the Vietnamese soldier give up the anger he felt for the American soldiers.

 

In closing I leave you, the readers, a video of a song called Civil War by the band Guns N' Roses. This is a song with amazing lyrics that refer to "war" in general. I hope you enjoy it!

 

 

 

Student Research and Writing Conference Reflection

     This past Wednesday, I attended the 8th Annual Student Research and Writing Conference. It was mandatory for me to be there because some of my classmates from The Journey in Literature class were going to be participating in the conference. Their panel was going to be about "Jungian Journeys: An Analysis of Memories, Dreams, Reflections". For this activity I, along with some classmates volunteered as ushers. My job was to welcome people and help them register before they entered the amphitheater were the conference was taking place. Honestly, I didn’t think I would enjoy it as much as I did. But, in the end, I really liked interacting with people. This took place during the morning and in the afternoon I returned to see the presentation my classmates had prepared.

     Everybody from our class that was not presenting was there in support of those who were. As they took the stage I was really excited for them, and at the same time I was hoping that they wouldn’t get nervous because nerves are horrible to have; especially if you’re talking in front of large groups of people. However, they all looked pretty confident and in control as they talked to the audience. When the time for questions came around, each of them was asked a couple of ones, to which they all answered very well. Then, as they left the stage, the crowd burst into a big round of applause. In that moment, I could not have felt happier and prouder for my classmates.

     Afterward, I stuck around a little while longer and listened to the following presentation which was about "The Arrabales of Puerto Rico: An Ethnographic Approach". The presenter was an economy graduate student. Among the things he talked about, he mentioned the struggles that certain Puerto Ricans faced back in the day while trying to make a better life for themselves. As he spoke, I couldn’t help but to think about a play I read back when I was in high school named "La Carreta" by René Marqués. In fact, it depicts what he was talking about remarkably well.

     In short, the conference was really informative and there were some good presentations that took place. Also, I had a lot of fun being an usher and I enjoyed watching my classmates give their presentation. I hope that this activity keeps going strong year after year, because it’s a good way to showcase different educational themes, and to give student who like it, the opportunity to get in front of an audience and present those themes.