Lower Nine- Reflecting

There are countless aspects that I could reflect on from this trip. Everything from culture and religion to work ethic and educational levels. Really they are all so different than anything I have been introduced to before. All of the positive things that I have seen I have tried to figure out ways that I could implement them into my own life in order to make me a better person. As for the negative things that I have seen, I have tried to set standards for myself in order to avoid them. Many of the negative things that I saw were things that developed over an extended period of time and may not seem like a negative thing to the people with which I saw it effecting because they are within a group that allows these actions and sees them as normal. Normalcy within something that is legitimately wrong is not a stranger to my life, but sometimes it is very easy to slip into what is routine especially when others around you may be doing the same thing. After being on this trip I realized the tremendous amount of opportunities that I have in comparison to many others. Seeing the way some of the people weren’t living their lives to their full potential also got me thinking about the way that I was living my life. I realized that I’m not living my life to the fullest and have been motivated to take steps to change that. Although many people always tell me that I need to learn to relax and take some time for me, I have realized that that is not what makes me happy. I am happiest when I am helping people and for me, time to myself isn’t productive so doesn’t fulfill any part of me. If there is something more that I could do then there is no reason as to why I shouldn’t be doing just that. One of the longest standing decisions in my life has been to help others be successful when I have the opportunity to. Like when we saw the little boy that we saw performing in New Orleans for example. All I could think about was how I wanted to help him achieve his goals in the future. I was so curious as to his story, his struggles, his achievements and his dreams. One day I will help others in as many ways that I can.
Another thing I learned while on the trip was that you should always be compassionate to those that have lost something. This is most commonly a physical thing, which I feel causes people to look at it materially. They look at the nominal value of the object rather than the value it holds in the eyes of the one that has lost it. Although, comparing the loses of the people in the Lower Nine to my personal situations was a great prioritizing factor. I was able to clear my mind of the things that aren’t important and really focus in on the things that truly matter in life. Lastly I learned that the media is a terrible way of gaining knowledge about issues, both bad and good, especially when the issue involves the government in the least.