Thursday, August 31, 2017

Hello, Loyola!

Orientation was from 9:00 in the morning until 6:00 at night. The department I'm in is called the Institute of Pastoral Studies. Their orientation consisted of getting to know our advisor and the professors along with the technology as well as a tour of the campus. We sat with people who were in the same degree program. I immediately had four friends; they were feeding me during happy hour at the end of the day. Yeah. These people get me.

On the first day of class, my assistant was forty minutes late due to a train. My stress level was through the roof. I was a few minutes late but nobody seemed to care. I think when you are physically disabled and pursuing a master's degree, people know you're not joking around. It's nice to be around people who automatically assume I'm bright. Usually, it's the other way around. At Loyola, people have been wonderful about everything.

During class, we talked about how you can't practice justice without reflection. The professor's point was if all we do is create theories in the ivory tower of a world of justice, when we put it into practice, we'll fall flat. However, if all we do is practice justice, we're not stepping back and saying how can we get better? It was very interesting especially after personally being out of school for five years, to be back and for the professor to talk about that was interesting. 

I'm getting to know the campus in the physical sense. It's very accessible! I was walking around after class and I could get wherever I wanted. I applaud the University for that! 

This post is going to be short because I am exhausted from night classes and the commute. I'm a part time student so I chose two classes per semester. I will have a Masters in Social Justice in three years. For now, I'm going to bed because I have about 20 hours of homework to do. I'm glad to be busy again. 

I haven't been too busy to ignore Hurricane Harvey. It's unfathomable and devastating. Two weeks ago, we were focusing on racism and how Heather Heyer's life was taken due to ignorance and fear. Now, we are seeing solidarity because people simply want to help victims of the Hurricane. I pray that victims feel the love of the country, that they feel a sense of peace in turmoil, and that this solidarity is our anthem from now on. We are so much better than racism. 

Peace, 
Hannah! 

A Slice of my Memoir

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