Celeste Vazquez

Reflecting on all of your courses and any other experiences (service learning, clubs, sports…) this academic year, how have you grown as a citizen and strived to improve the quality of life at school and the greater community, while developing respect, tolerance and understanding of individual differences and diversity?

Diversity at Lennox Academy gives an impact on its students by exposing us to one level of practicing respect towards others. By having a diversity of people within the school grounds, Lennox Academy is playing a key role in allowing us to find tolerance towards others who are unlike than ourselves. I have respected people of all backgrounds for as long as I can remember, and the way that I have done so is by knowing that we are all alike (if we are willing to find those similarities) and that we were all placed in this world for a reason. I make sure to respect someone by accepting them for who they are and giving tolerance, equality, and fairness towards them. For my English 9 assignment the whole class was able to speak their own views and perspectives on the ending of “The Lady or the Tiger?” that we had read in class. This assignment known as the Socratic Seminar had the students in two circles so that the inside circle could speak out their very own perspectives on how the ending had occurred. There were only two different views on the ending whether the youth had opened the door with the lady or the door with the tiger behind it. As we spoke within the circle, we each reacted to each other’s’ views whether they were different from our own or not. I had tolerated every person’s view by having seen their point of view while at the same time sticking to mine and not judging them. They each had different viewpoints, but I respected each equally just as I expected it to be returned to me as well. My citizen role in my school and community holds a place of equality because not everyone is the same but we should all respect one another. I have shown this in my community by volunteering to help at the Saint Margaret’s Center. Over at the center, I am able to help the less fortunate (who seek help from the center) with their food and finances. Every time that I helped a person whether by handing them their food from the food pantry or taking their financial paperwork to hand it over to the administrators of the center, I saw that they appreciated what I was doing. With that much said, I felt the impact that I was making on them was actually there due to my presence and help. With that, I demonstrated equality towards them and that undoubtedly made them feel good inside. The people who influenced me to conduct this kind of equality with everyone were mostly my parents. As I grew up, my parents taught me wrong from right and equality was something deeply treasured by them because of their catholic religion and Catholicism beliefs. There was once a time when a couple of my friends had gotten into a feud with each other. The feud was so grand that the once “best-friends-forever”, had separated from each other’s lives. Teenage drama had occurred amongst them and they had already been going downfall before the final blow of one of them having left the other for a boy.On the day of, I had taken initiative of talking with each one of them after the rest of their friends had talked with them. As I was planning what I wanted to tell them each separately, I was thinking about how things were going to work out in the very end. I thought that the typical happy ending was going to occur but, to this day, I myself do not know what the outcome was after my talk with them because time has passed and I have not had contact with them. When this all first happened, I had been astounded because I have known both friends since elementary school, the origin of their friendship. When I had decided to speak with both of them, I had found that things weren’t working out for them.I told each one of them that if they felt like moving on and leaving their long friendship in the trash, that it was okay, but they would have to live on with life knowing that their once “best-friend-forever” was no longer going to be there to support them when they needed it or even wanted it, which was sad. My initial reaction of astonishment (at first) towards this feud had slowly morphed into thinking of a strategy to reunite them with my words, but I currently do not know if it made a difference in the end or not. What made me think of this resolution was my own upbringing because I knew that nothing worked better at the time than talking with one-on-one. This situation had given me the experience of practicing calm and reasonable oppositions for anything. The experience and skills needed for future encounters against society or any problems had been provided to me through this unfortunate experience.Joining more clubs or establishing new acquaintances that could work their way to friends is a good plan for next year. In order to become an ethical effective citizen, I should start small and then eventually work my way up to the even bigger challenges. However, I will always be trying to go above and beyond everything to help others in any way that I possibly can. Volunteering at community centers is also part of my plan for next year to help the community.