Hard to believe that my undergraduate studies are almost over with! This Tuesday I sat through my last day of classes. I was impressed by the last lecture given by Ilona Klein. She is one of the Italian professors and she has proven to be one of my favorites. She is a very engaging teacher who demands a lot from her students, yet her grading style is remarkably fair.
This semester I took her Honors 303 class, Voices and Legacy of the Shoah. The class is devoted to studying what took place in Nazi Germany and "giving a voice" to those who were persecuted under Hilter's regime. We read many wonderful biographies by Elie Wiesel, Primo Levi, Gerda Weissman Klein, and several others. I recommend all of them if you ever have the chance. Their courage not only to survive through the Shoah but to be a witness of it inspires me.
In fact, Professor Klein teaches the course to motivate students to evade feelings of indifference. She encourages us to find an issue we are passionate about and to act on it, whatever it may be. Even if contributions are small individually, they add up to a much larger and impressive whole.
As I reflect upon her message, I find that I have done little in the last few years to give a voice to the voiceless. I have not volunteered my time nearly enough nor have I joined admirable causes that are in desperate need for help. I need to identify what it is I care about and then act on it.
So, what are you doing to better your community?
Saddly nothing...I can't figure out what I want my passion to be. Isn't that sad. You would think I would have figured it out during one of those projects in college but I never did.
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