Life Your Life to the Fullest
This week, I attended the State of
the University address given by Loyola’s president, Father Linnane. This
analysis will relate that event to “First Practice”, by Gary Gildner, “Directions
for Resisting the SAT”, by Richard Hague, “A Father”, by Bharati Mukherjee, and
“Serving Up Hope”, by Stephanie Shapiro. After reading these stories, I felt a
connecting theme between the stories and poems mentioned above, and the address
given by Father Linnane. The
central themes were about taking control of your own life and providing a path
for your own destiny.
In “First Practice”, by Gary
Gildner, the poem is about a hard-pressing coach that will do whatever it takes
to win. He is forceful, and obsessed with winning. This coach is not inspiring,
and he is not effective. He shouldn’t stress the importance of winning, but
instead he should stress the importance of having fun because it is just a
game. In relation to the State of the University address, the University should
not be so obsessed with becoming number one, but instead be effective enough to
rise in the rankings, and at the same time doing everything in its power to
make the experience at Loyola enjoyable. I am not saying that Father Linnane is
obsessed with becoming the number one Catholic University in America, but I
feel at times that Loyola has lost sight about its purpose and its goals. This
is a Jesuit University dedicated to service and the community at large. The
importance of the ‘yield rate’ for example, is not a top priority when it comes
to other important aspects of the University. Loyola, and the coach in the
poem, needs to take control of the situation, and not lose sight of what is
truly important.
In “Directions for Resisting the
SAT”, by Richard Hague, the poem is about living life to the fullest. Living
life to the fullest is one of the more important aspects of living. The poem
states, “Make your marks on everything”, which means to me that you should see
and do everything. Let people know you were there and enjoying life. Live life
to the fullest. This correlates greatly to the Jesuit education. Live life to
the fullest and help others. Build community and enjoy the life you have and
enjoy what is given to you. In relation to the State of the University address,
the poem and the address both were inspiring. The address was in fact
inspiring, even though I felt we lost sight of some goals in between. The
science center is starting to receive major grants and accolades, the Loyola
clinical center is expanding and increasing awareness, and the service at
Loyola is growing at a rapid pace. Loyola is living life to the fullest, by
trying to provide a top-notch education, and in the poem, the author is
speaking out to people to get them to life their lives to the fullest. Don’t let one bad test score ruin your
life, especially where at Loyola, one does not need to submit test scores!
In “A Father”, by Bharati
Mukherjee, the story is about a father and a daughter and their feuding
relationship. The father is stuck in the past. His wife, and his daughter, is
in the modern world. The father is a very traditional man and thinks that women
should not be advanced. He expects his wife to serve him at all times. This
story is all about taking control of your own life. The daughter, doing exactly
that, takes control of her life and stands up to what she believes is right.
She is in the present and her father is in the past. The father needs to change
in order to survive in the modern world, but I feel as if that is almost
impossible in his case. In relation to the address, taking control of your life
is the most important aspect. The University is moving towards a
living-learning community for all incoming first year students starting in
2015. The incoming students will have to choose between several different
programs. These programs will place students together for housing and classes.
This will give them the opportunity to live and learn together. Loyola is
changing for the modern times. It is not the same as it used to be. Loyola is
taking control, and becoming a leader, by providing a new type of freshmen year
for incoming students. Whether or not I necessarily agree with this change, I
do think that it is important to change for the modern times. Sticking to the traditional
ways is not always the best way, as shown in “A Father”.
In “Serving Up Hope”, by Stephanie
Shapiro, the story is about deli/restaurant owners, Gale and Bridget Sampson.
They take in two drug addicts under their wings to give them a better shot at
life. They also provide them jobs. This story is extremely inspiring. Gale and
Bridget are taking in people that made bad choice, and are giving them futures.
If someone made bad choices in the past, it should not control their future,
which is a central aspect of the story. Bad choices should not dictate the rest
of one’s life. Take control and move forward. In relation to the address,
Loyola performs these tasks all the time. The Center for Community Service and
Justice helps out the community of Baltimore all the time. Whether or not the
people we help did something bad in the past or not, they still need our help
for a brighter future. We are helping them take control of their lives by
giving them an opportunity they may not have had before. Father Linnane talked
about our service. He said our service is growing. Loyola is becoming one of
the top-tier universities in service, thanks to the Center for Community Service
and Justice. The stories, and the address, were both inspiring.
I actually went to the address in
person last Wednesday. I did not read it online. I definitely enjoyed going and
thought it was an experience that was important. Loyola is moving in the right
direction, but at times I do feel as if becoming number one is more important
than our true goals and motives. The stories and poems this week related
perfectly to the themes of living your life, taking control of your life and
perfection.
Matt Sandelands
Event Analysis
11/1/2012
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