Ms. Kimberly Worthy on Educational Excellence (by Steeve Pierre-Louis)

I initially thought it was weird that the Freshman Seminar team would bring in a teacher to speak to us, rather than another professor or Ph.D. individual. I actually admit that I didn't expect to learn much from Ms. Worthy. However, as soon as she spoke, it made me want to listen. I especially liked the part where she mentioned that she wasn't bragging, but simply illuminating her accomplishments while working at schools and consistently becoming teacher of the year.

One factor of her teaching that helps me believe in her ability to change student's lives is that she understands that different people are taught differently. It really is a crime when some students who are smart and know their craft cannot prove it through standardized testing like other students because they just aren't good test takers. We've all heard this before, however Ms. Worthy took it a bit further. The African psyche and its views on the world are fundamentally different than those of Europeans and Americans. Ms. Worthy mentioned that Africans see everything as connected; according to her, learning things separately like math, english, history, and science is foreign to us because our ancestors saw the bigger picture. Interestingly enough, this was also mentioned in a previous lecture.

Dr. Beatty spoke on how it was that Africans brought to the U.S. and endured slavery accepted Christianity. He stated that our ancestors saw things holistically. They saw that parts of Christianity were similar to what they knew. Being open-minded people as well, they openly accepted Christianity as their religion, even though it was completely foreign to them. Unknowingly, Ms. Worthy corroborated this statement by Dr. Beatty.

Ms. Worthy also spoke on schools in South Africa where students face many hardships and dangers in their communities. The schools posted there, known as LEAP, are like shelters that provide the students a family as well as an education. I specifically liked how Ms. Worthy mentioned a specific tribal proverb that the schools use to educate the students. What made it even better is how the students are participating in what is clearly an mbongi. This again pertains to a previous lecture, this time by Dr. Carr. Ms. Worthy mentioned that the students let it all out and cleared their consciousness in an open room where everyone is equal and everything said is public. Sounds a lot like a "room without walls" to me.

Stories like these warm my heart. What also got me thinking was the fact that the owner of the LEAP school in Africa knew that the students did not need any of our familiar aspects of education like bells and the like to learn. He wanted to make things as naturally and closely related to the way the students can learn things as their ancestors. And the results of this are clear. Ms. Worthy mentioned a debate competition in which the students at LEAP defeated a much more prestigious school. Therefore, the methods mentioned by Ms. Worthy were effective.

Simply through her presentation, I can imagine her in a classroom teaching students in a way they can understand and learn just as effectively as in LEAP. Ms. Worthy gave us all a small biography of her early life and how she got into teaching. A very inspiring story, she found her calling to make a difference in the lives of children and students who are simply becoming lost in the deteriorating and ineffective structure of education that exists in the U.S. now. I hope I hear more from Ms. worthy some time in the future as I believe her work is significantly going to "redefine our social space," in the words of last week's lecturer, Dr. Thorton.

Miss Evers' Boys

The Miss Evers's Boys play by the Theater Arts department was well worth the price. The event felt very formal and professional and I enjoyed the performances by Mary Miller (Eunice Evers) and the story of the 4 men in the cast.

Though when I arrived at the theater and received a program with detailed background on the story, I decided not to read any of it until I saw the play. In this way I was able to judge the performances and accuracy of the story without predetermined expectations. I initially had no idea that the story of Miss Evers would be a tragic one. I expected some form of drama, and perhaps even a betrayal, but I didn't think anyone would actually die. Seeing the end play out without knowing what would happened helped me grasp the full effect of the play.

Attending this also opened my eyes to another aspect of racism that afflicted the black race in the 20th century. I had no idea that social Darwinism affected blacks and pioneered racial supremacy like it did with the Jews in Germany. It was interesting to watch the perspectives of doctors and nurses trying to find out the differences between blacks and whites in terms of how syphilis and disease affects us all. In the end, the play ended up being much more than a theatrical performance for me but a revelation of a less popular, however just as significant, aspect of racism and black struggles.

Looking back, it seems like a short play now that I can probably summarize it in only a few paragraphs. The play, however, lasted almost 2.5 hours. Throughout it, I loved the energy the actors and actress put into their work, especially when Miss Evers's character spoke to the audience, or the "senate" as she would put it, about the plot and explained or say some things that can't be deduced from scenes. I hope to see more performances by the theater arts department as I enjoyed this play with great delight.

Ms. Evers boys (special post)

I went and saw Ms. Evers’ Boys on Thursday October 6^th , 2011. I had no prior knowledge of the play before going, so I had no idea what to expect. I had only heard that it was a good play, and I am happy to say that what I heard was right! The actors were very good and had everything down. The story of the play sent a message while also showing an amazing plot. The play opened my eyes to a some of the things African-Americans had to go through in the past. I never thought the government would do something so horrendous as to let thousands of people live with a disease as serious as syphilis and just study them and lie to them about treatment. That part of the play disgusted me, but what disgusted me more was the fact Ms. Evers allowed it to happen. While she could not have done much, she could have told Caleb, Ben, Willie, and Hodman about what was going on. I feel she lied to herself and the boys. She convinced herself and them that she was friend and could be trusted, but she was just a liar. I expect it did hurt to have to lie to them for all those years, but as they progressively got worse she should have felt some kind of obligation as a “friend” to tell them. The character of Caleb reminds me of myself because I’m not quick to trust people either, especially when it comes to something serious. If I was in the same position I would have done exactly what Caleb did, and got my shot.

Regardless of my personal feelings about what happened, I loved the play. It was very good, and the actors did a very good job. The emotion in Willie’s face at the end when he made them watch him try to dance with his bum leg was so pure and real. I actually was sucked into the story and felt bad for him. A small part of me felt bad for Nurse Evers because she had no friends in the end. However, part of me had absolutely no sympathy for her because of how she lied to her “friends” and essentially killed two of them.

I look forward to more plays from Howard students.

No Excuses (Gladys)

I believe that I must go as far as I can in both my academic and career life. I need to learn not to settle for anything less than the greatest because I know I can achieve more if I set my mind to it. That is how I would become one of Howard’s “best and brightest.” It all starts with getting a good education and striving to be on top.

To be a citizen is to up hold ones responsibility as a citizen. You use the rights you were given to achieve greatness throughout life and pass it on to your kids. You must also up hold your civil duties such as voting and taking an active role in the government, you can’t have a democracy if none of the citizens are involved. The government would therefore fail.

Participation in world both directly and indirectly can affect how the world functions as a whole. People like Martin Luther King Jr. and Fredrick Douglass are examples of how a single person can change the world and make it better by aiming high and walking down the right path in life. By being a good citizen, you can make the world better in a major or minor way. Either way, you have an affect on its out come.

Fredrick Douglass was born a slave and died an African American hero. He never let his pass or the color of his skin hold him back from achieving greatness. He aimed high and truly had a major role in forming the world we have today. That is definitely someone I look up to because I seem to always let my pass keep me from moving forward. Instead of doing my best where I am now, I use excuses keep me from doing just that.

Great people like Fredrick Douglass push me to “till and turn over the soil” because compared to the position they were in and the obstacles they had to overcome, life is a piece of cake, and I can’t let excuses keep me from getting my slice.

On September 26, 2011 my Freshman Seminar class was given a lecture by Dr.Alvin Thornton. Dr.Thornton looks over the College of Arts and Sciences, School of Business, Education and Communications and Enrollment Management Divisions at Howard University. He also has served on the Political Science faculty for 26 years and is well known throughout campus.

His lecture focused on the importance of education at Howard University and how we need to not sleep on our education. During his lecture, I thought about how I need to study more and plan out my future in order to become successful and obtain all my life long goals.

Dr.Thornton repeated how important it is to contribute in society to make a difference in order to be considered a real citizen. I agree with his opinion because we have to stay productive and should help others around us to make society better. the point that you have to help your society in order to really be considered a citizen.

I would have to say that I look up to Dr.Carr as one representative thinker at Howard. He speaks with confidence and is not afraid of challenges. Numerous people look up to him because of his great accomplishments in life and he is a great example of someone who "tills and turns over soil," because his handwork is the life long effect of his success today and the reason why he is labeled as one of the best professors at Howard University.

Citizenship blog

After listening to Dr. Alvin Thornton’s lecture, I did a lot of thinking. I discovered what I need to do and what everyone else needs to do to become something more. To become one of the “best and brightest” of Howard I need to and will be the best me possible. It will take more than just studying and good grades to be “the best and brightest”. I need to be active, outgoing, get myself out in the world and experience the things that it has to offer. Then I need to bring those things back and use them to enrich my Howard experience. I need to network and make many friends and get my name known to make sure I am always in the loop for events that could enrich my experience. That is how I will be the one of the “best and brightest”, by being everywhere possible and gaining knowledge on things people would not expect to be necessary to get ahead in life.

I feel that the definition of being a citizen is being a human that exercises their universal rights. However we must also define our rights. As people of the world and of our nations we all have the right to education, life, liberty, shelter and more. If we demand those rights and fight for them then we are citizens. If you have the right but choose not to exercise it, then you are still a citizen however, you are not utilizing your citizenship to its potential. The world views people by what nation they are citizens of. Therefore, my being a citizen of the US allows people to predetermine what kind of citizen of the world I am. Which would be an arrogant, selfish American. However, my citizenship of a certain nation does not change the fact that I am still a citizen of the world, and I have the same rights as everyone else. What I am saying is that my being a citizen of America gives me a distinction in my character and allows me to play a larger role as a citizen of the world due to privileges that I have due to being an American.

Stokely Carmichael is a “representative thinker” of Howard University. His speeches and fights for freedom are inspiring. His life’s work inspires me to keep changing the world for the better and ensuring the universal rights of all people. His work in non-violent protests inspires me to do work that helps other people in certain situations in a peaceful way. In order to “till and turn the soil” I must build of previous work and then use it to start anew and change the world for better growth of the human race.

Dr. Thorton on “The Eloquence of the Scribes”: Initiation, Expectations, and Mastery—Continuing the Legacy of Howard University (Steeve Pierre-Louis)

This week's lecture was something different. Not only did it feel a bit preachy, I also felt it was somewhat more disconnected from the general trend the previous lectures were following. It could, however, had just me getting used to the Afrocentric tone of Freshman Seminar and expecting yet another revelation about our culture. Nonetheless, Dr. Thorton's lecture on citizenship and the like really had me thinking about what I could do with my time and experiences here at Howard to impact the world.

For the most part, I want to be the best that I can be at academics. Being bright alone has worked all the way through high school but at the pace that college is going, I'll be left in the dust by the hard workers who steadily do their work and manage their time. So I've adapted. I'm steadily rising and working hard to take everything Howard University has to offer me.

But at this stage, I'm talking about more than just academics. The opportunities that Howard offers are just as far reaching in community service, networking, and research as it is in learning in a classroom. These all work together to prepare me to be a citizen of the world. Unlike a regular citizen, I would be offering truth and service to all the nations and all the people. My talents and experiences will aid the world and humanity holistically.

Being a citizen of this nation helps define my world citizenship. As the richest country in the world, my citizenship to this country will be looked upon with responsibility and duty; one capable of redefining his social space, as Dr. Thorton would put it.

This would eventually lead me to become a representative thinker of Howard just like Thurgood Marshall. Marshall was a crucial element that advanced civil rights toward desegregation, and he used Howard University as his planning ground for fighting the Supreme Court. In time, he became a Supreme Court Justice. What I want to do is expand my boundaries beyond just this one nation. There's a whole world of 6 billion other people out there who also need help. But likewise, I want to change the status quo and stop the foolishness. I believe Howard University can prepare me for that just as it prepared Thurgood Marshall.