Day 3 - Loyola, Mardi Gras World, New Orleans School of Cooking

Maurice:

I loved how the tour started out with a video that highlighted the historical importance of Mardi Gras. 

After the video we got to go on a tour of the entire facility where all the magic happens. One thing that I really admired was the fact that for certain materials such as the styrofoam were highly encouraged to be reused for the sake of saving money. 

In addition , I thought it was really cool how Mardi Gras is a carnival that does not allow ANY outside corporations to endorse the parade in anyway. Therefore, all proceeds that were raised to help make the carnival possible was provided solely by members of the community, making the event so much more special in entirety! 

I will use this knowledge once arriving back home by continuing to extend the hand to surrounding communities to provide others with a sense of warmth and belonging. 

Trevon:

The event that had the biggest impact on me today had to be the unexpected meeting with the children at TCC. The reason why it had the most impact had to do with the children themselves a lot of them came from a broken home and a even more broken neighborhood. Earlier today we went to yeah Nola And talked about the disparities the communities have to deal with ever since Katrina happened. On top of that they explain how nothing has been done by the government to improve the situation and most of the Improvements that came to the city was done by the community themselves. With that being said even the community rebuilding isn’t enough yet these children still face each day with resilience. These are children who are exposed to a lot of violence in the household as well as in the schools. Even with teachers saying to the kids that some of you won’t be going to school and that they will be more than likely selling drugs, these kids still show so much strength which inspires me beyond imagination. It is making me think about coming back this summer to volunteer for more services that can provide.

Ramsey:

I believe that the most impactful event today to me was visiting Loyola University and listening to the Dr. Ward was an amazed by how the college changed throughout the years and how the students and community has come together. I can see that they admitted to what they needed to change and they have started to work on and they will continue to work on. Just learning about how the leadership is going to change throughout the years and it amazing how much they have improved. I think something i could definitely bring back is to try and push a success coach on CWU campus because it is a great tool and resource to have someone that is that has been in the same shoes as you and experienced somewhat of the things you will experience is something I believe that Central should have. As well as having more awareness of mental health issues and problems because its a real thing and Loyola University has taken it seriously and you can see that it is a need in more universities like Central.

Leni:

The events that impacted me the most today was going to Loyola University and being able to learn about the education system in K-12. We learned that before Katrina, the K-12 system was an actual K-12 system. Post Katrina, a majority of the K-12 schools were decimated. This allowed wealthy people from outside the area to come and put up charter schools. These very schools that were put into place had no regard for the students they were actually catering to. A majority of the African American students were not able to afford the fees of these charter schools. Missing a class caused more fees to be charged to the families. If the fees couldn’t be paid, there were more fees. It was an endless and vicious cycle that took advantage of the poor people recovering from one of the worst recent disasters in New Orleans history.

After Loyola, we were able to go back to Holly Grove, at TCC, to speak to children that are actually IN the system. It was a very interesting experience to hear from the children of Holly Grove of what they ACTUALLY go through everyday in school, being a student of color. One student said that one of her teachers said that half of them would be drug dealers. What kind of school system discourages their students everyday by telling them that half of them are going to jail and are going to deal drugs?! It not only discourages the students from attending, but makes them think that they will amount to nothing and get to nowhere in life. The education here still needs serious reform.

Samantha:

The event that impacted me the most today was our visit to Trinity Community Center. This was our second visit to TCC, and the purpose was to talk to the kids about college and answer any questions that they had. It was valuable to hear the kids' experience at school, especially after listening to Dr. Ward's talk earlier that day about the faults of the Louisiana education system. I will use this knowledge when I return home to evaluate the education system in my community to see what we can do to better serve students in the area.

Aubrey:

I would have to say our trip to Loyola University was the most impactful to me. There was so much insight about Katrina, and re-building the city after Katrina. When Dr. Ward explained her personal experience during Katrina and post-Katrina, it broke my heart. When she went into detail of how she saw  children pushing their grandparents in shopping carts to get them to safety, eating MRE’s because there wasn’t a grocery store for months, remembering when she first saw the street light turn on— I was just completely speechless. I can’t imagine me or anyone else I love going through something like that scared for our lives. I really tried picturing it and I teared up thinking about it. My family and I lived in an apartment complex where we were basically below ground level so if anything our apartment would’ve been the first one flooded. I have an uncle with polio who is like a second father to me that lives with us and I wouldn’t be strong enough to carry him on my back up to ground level. I would have to put him in his wheelchair and push him up a steep ramp and I don’t think that would be possible if there was a flood like Katrina. I know this may sound dark but I would rather die trying to save my uncle and get him to safety before I would save myself. I feel like that was the mentality some people had because they didn’t want to leave their loved ones.

I left Dr. Ward’s presentation feeling blessed that I didn’t have to go through such a tragedy and I feel sympathy for those who did have to go through it. Katrina happened more than a decade ago, and the city and its people are still trying to recover from it. Katrina happened when I was in elementary school, and I knew it was a terrible situation but I never really took the time to actually think about the details of the event. I feel that I was too young at the time to understand really how serious the event was. As time went on, I didn’t really think about it as years passed. Now that I’m older, I understand.  About 2,000 lives lost, properties/land destroyed, everything they owned gone, places where they had good memories of, literally almost everything they knew and loved about New Orleans was destroyed.

When I get home I plan to use this information to educate people. When I hear people say Bremerton or Ellensburg “suck” or something negative about it, I want to explain to them how good we have it compared to other places like New Orleans. Today gave me the realization that sometimes I take my hometown and school town for granted. 

RJ:

There were many meaningful events that we had today, however, I believe that the most meaningful event was when we got to go back and interact with the younger generations of Trinity Community Center (TCC). Earlier in the day, we were explained by Dr. Ward the faulty education system within the state of Louisiana.  When we spoke to the younger generation at TCC, we were able to see the education system from the perspective of the students themselves. For me, it was hard to believe what these students go through just to receive an education. Many of the students do not have the opportunity to go to the school nearest to their neighborhood, instead, students are placed based on their ranking within the education system. Therefore, some students may have to go to a school that is 45 minutes away with public buses/trollies being their only form of transportation. There is nothing wrong with public transportation, but this restricts the ability to participate in afterschool activities because the bus may not run as late. It may also have an impact on attendance because if the students were to miss a bus time, it may not be another hour or so until the bus makes its way back around. Even then, the student may give up the day because of the missed bus, causing the penalty of truancy. The school may charge for truancy, but the family may not have the funds to pay the fine. It is a reoccurring cycle that is not beneficial to the whole generation.

Granted, charter schools have helped the community when it was initially in recovery from Hurricane Katrina. However, it has now created a larger social gap due to the Separation of students based on ranking. During the panel board at the Trinity Community Center, it hurt to hear that students have experienced doubtful words from their teachers who are supposed to be the biggest supporters. One of the students stated that a teacher once told them that half the class will be drug dealers while the other half will go to college. The idea that not all the children are encouraged to pursue further learning beyond high school is completely different than what I had grown up with. Being able to listen to their life as well as giving words of encouragement that there is more to the world than what their teacher is telling them, means more than anything else to me. Although I am still pursuing my dream and my career, it is never too early or too late to help the generations below me to the best of my ability. To give them confidence, knowledge, inspiration, and the resources they need to help support them in pursuing their dreams. That is something I want to give back to my community, is to continue to speak with generation below me along with my peers to tell them they can do it. If they want to pursue something, to go out and grab. That their it so predetermined fate for their lives, they get to make what they want out of it. Some may have more hurdles to jump, but everyone is in control of their own life. You get to choose what you want to do with it.

Brandon:

To say that today was insightful is only the beginning on how I would describe how our day went. After giving Aubrey a quick crash course on how to work the video camera, we all set out to Loyola University. It was quite the experience getting to walk around a world-renowned University located close to the heart of New Orleans. Our cohort then got the opportunity to listen to a personal presentation given by Loyola's very own Dr. Ward. I can easily say that after listening to Dr. Ward's research, my approach to cross-cultural leadership has been reinvented and intensified in ways I could not have imagined possible. 

One key takeaway I will remember for all my days is what Dr. Ward described as, "The mark of a leader". The mark that is described is an individual's ability to establish trust with another and engage in tough conversations. As Dr. Ward shared with us about this personal characteristic, it almost felt like she was talking directly to me as if she knew beforehand that was a person that dreaded having conversations with anyone about controversial topics. However, she continued to teach me, and the rest of the cohort, about how we can have those talks and the true potential that these talks can have on us and those around us. These conversations are the stem and the pathway to maximizing the impact that we can have on the communities that which we are apart of. Not everyone is willing to have these conversations, and that is why it is the mark of a leader because they courageous, honest, and receptive enough to do it and spark substantial change in the world that we live in.

Since Dr. Ward's presentation, I have taken this knowledge and even applied it later today when we went to talk to a group of teenagers back at the Trinity Community Center. I couldn't be more grateful for that experience, and the feeling that I got after sharing my thoughts and hearing other's thoughts about meaningful topics is something I'll hold onto forever. It was so invigorating I can't wait to continue the conversation and take more even more steps towards significant outcomes. I can't wait to return home with this new mindset!

Nate:

I think the thing that impacted me most today was the sit down conversation we had with the children of Trinity community center. Having the chance to engage with the kids and both tell our story was an amazing opportunity. It spoke again to the importance of actually hearing from the community you want to help out. These kids are smart enough to recognize both the positives and negatives of their current situation both in school and out of school. It hurt my heart today to know that these children are being educated by people who have the audacity to tell a classroom "half of you all will end up as drug dealers." You know there is a serious issue with a system if even children can point out the blatant shortcomings. 

What I'm taking back with me is the lesson of listening more than speaking. Especially in regards to a community or organization I want to engage with. I know these kids can tell me either purposely or even inadvertently what they need to be successful, so who better to hear it from when trying to help? I believe that applies to any community you want to work with; get their perspective and their feedback on the issues at hand to really have a lasting and positive impact.