Welcome to Fairfield University! As the class of 2011 arrives on campus and we're all thinking about what this next four years holds for you, I couldn't help but consider how "Lucky Child" invites us to reflect on the ways our so-called "good fortune" leads to unexpected challenges, interpersonal obstacles, and ultimately to profound growth. How will your good fortune to attend this fine University and the culture shock of your transition to college life also bring unexpected challenges, interpersonal conflicts, and ultimately contribute to your formation as young adults? Who will you become? Despite the obvious differences between your lives to date and the life of Loung Ung, there are some universal themes here.
Despite the universality of the book, of course, it really evokes us to think beyond our own experiences and privileges and to consider who is "left behind," much like Chou was left behind in Cambodia. The stories about the mine fields struck a particularly intense cord with me. In January 1993, I was in El Salvador with a group of students on an international service learning trip. We were collaborating with a small community to rebuild a school that had been bombed in the protracted civil war. After long days of work, a lot of the students and community members loved to play soccer. As I cheered from the sidelines, it was impossible not to notice how many of the Salvadorans were missing a limb--a hand, a leg, an arm or both! It was striking both in terms of how many local people were wounded by mines that were still in the forests and fields around us, and also in how these wounds did not seem to diminish people's ability to play soccer, to find joy in family and friends, and to work hard hard to improve their community. This encounter made a lasting impression on all of us--students, faculty, community members--and continues to guide my own research and work as Director of Service Learning at Fairfield University.
I hope you will take the opportunity to experience this kind of transformational learning through a service-learning course (they're designated SERL in the course schedule each semester), participation in an Arrupe Volunteers trip, studying abroad in a non-traditional country (we have a great program in Nicaragua!), and getting involved with local community service clubs and activities.
Best of luck in your first year! I'll look forward to meeting you,
Robbin Crabtree, Communication Professor and Director of Service Learning
What's your opinion? Join the conversation by clicking on the Comments link.
Recent Comments