a cUltural woRk in proGress..

Today in my Stereotypes course, my students presented their Cultural Portraits. They had to bring in a cultural artifact, write a 3-page paper about their cultural make-up, and then present it in 3-5 minutes. I was pleasantly surprised every step of the way. I realized during class that we are all in the process of working our culture; understanding our past; and then figuring out how to keep moving forward towards the future we have planned for ourselves. We are all “in process.” There were many moments throughout the presentation when I turned my head because I was moved: the moment when the student said that he lost his mother at the age of five and does not remember anything about her (not the sound of her voice, her smell, her eyes…) and that his father had not kept the memory of his mother alive for him; or the moment when the student said that he lost his father when he was in the sixth grade and that he made the decision that day not to go away to college so that he could stay in the area and take care of his mother; or the moment when the student said that he won the “Cura Personalis” Award for his honesty, his integrity, and his ministry on campus and for him these were the things that were most important to him…all males – all sensitive – all real – and all very very honest…some day yet again!