take me out to the ball game...

Today was a therapeutic day.

I spent the afternoon at the ball park, soaking up the sun, and watching the Irish take on the Seton Hall Pirates. The only thing that was missing was the peanuts!

Even though the Pirates won, it was great to spend an afternoon relaxing in the sun. I forgot how much I love baseball and it was so nice to be a part of the fabulous atmosphere.

The starting catcher for the Irish is one of my friends from French class.

Despite the outcome of the game, it was oh so lovely to spend an afternoon at the ball game!

Can't wait for the next game!

knowledge is power.

Earlier this week I was fortunate enough to go to a presentation by a man from Sierra Leon named Ishmael Beah, the author of "A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier." Sierra Leon is located in West Africa and experienced a terrible civil war beginning in the mid-1990's. Ishmael was a child soldier for two years when he was 11 and 12. He spent an hour talking about his story ....

Ishmael lost his family during the war ... his mother, father, and two brothers were all killed within a two year period. He spent 45 minutes telling us about his life - pre-war, during the war, and post-war. He was a captivating speaker. I was absolutely mesmorized. He talked about violence. About death. About war. He talked about the evils that surround war, but most importantly he talked about why he wrote his book. He talked about why we need to speak out on important issues and why we need to stand up for what we believe in.

"When you destroy the facts of a story, you destroy its purpose. You need to have a purpose for telling a story. My purpose was to tell that [atrocities of war] were happening to human beings with same human tendencies as everyone else. We are all capable of losing our humanity."

He said that you can't ever give up hope and you have to give a human face to the experience of war. "Sierra Leone was never a hopeless country," Beah said. "Nothing can be done if you write something off as hopeless. Issues can be easily put off without human context - if you don't humanize an issue, people don't pay attention to it."

He also said you have to hold people accountable for their actions. Unless people are held accountable, they think that it is okay to do terrible things.

"I will never forget what happened, but you learn to live with it. You can find good things out of horror, and you can appreciate what it is just to wake up and be alive," Beah said.

I am so glad I decided to go to his presentation ... It is amazing to me how easily I get caught up in my "problems" and stress, without even considering how lucky I am to just be able to wake up in peace everyday.

After the presentation, my friends and I had to opportunity to meet Ishmael. My friend Claire asked him what we could to make a difference. He said that we had to humanize the situation, but it seems so hard to do that from so far away. We wanted to know what we could do to make a difference...

His answer was simple:

LEARN ... He told us to learn about the issues. To educate ourselves and to educate others. When I heard this, I realized how important education really is. It has the ability to humanize a terrible situation, to get people involved, and to truly make a difference.

When I hear about people like Ishamel it reenforces my desire to become a teacher. There is so much to learn about, so much to teach, and so much of a difference to be made. No doubt, it is not always easy, but it seems that it begins with the desire to get involved and the compassion to help others. I believe that if you truly want to make a difference, there is always a way to make it happen. I hope that one day I can make half the difference as those who have helped me in my journey. I hope that I can take a stand for the things I believe in. I hope to teach others how important education and knowledge really is ...

Like Ishmael told us as we were leaving ... Knowledge is Power.

p.j.'s special day.

This past week was Spring Break, so of course I headed home for some rest and relaxation (haha, sort of). Anyway, in high school I couldn't wait to get out of good old P-top, but now that I have been gone and experienced so many new things, I always LOVE coming back any chance I get.

The week was busy, but one of the highlights of my week was having P.J. take me to his kindergarten class as his SHOW AND TELL. He asked me to bring in his pole vault pole (an old broken pole that dad fixed up for him) and some mini hurdles. He also asked me to wear my ND jacket and brought a picture of me hurdling from high school. My little buddy was so cute!

When I got to class, he told the other kids in his class all about pole vaulting, demonstrated how to run over the hurdles, and told them about me going to school at Notre Dame. P.J. was SO excited! It was such a great experience.

After he introduced me, the kids had the opportunity to ask me questions. They asked all sorts of questions, but one kid's question was particularly hilarious ... he asked:

"WHAT ARE YOU MADE OUT OF?"

Hahaha, Dad said I should have told him TITANIUM ... too bad I'm not that quick.

Despite my lack of wittiness, I had a great experience hanging out with P.J. and his classmates.

He is such a funny kid and I love hanging out with him when I am home!

Thanks for taking me as your show and tell, P.J. It was indeed a very special day!

boost of confidence.

The good news is that next week is Spring Break! Unfortunately, that also means that this week is midterms week. As of this afternoon, I have written a paper in French, turned in a philosophy paper, written a 9 page midterm on the Civil War, and taken a French exam ... almost done. 4 down, 2 to go - social problems project and a midterm on the Vietnam War. Needless to say, this week has been pretty crazy. I am running very low on sleep. I am living off of coffee. BUT the weather is beautiful and I recieved this much needed boost today...

Dear RikkiLynn:

I just wanted to touch base to let you know I sent your recommendation out. I put a little note on it saying that, although the option did not exist, I thought you were in the top 1% of all students I've ever taught! Good luck! Keep me posted!

All the Best and Be Blessed,
Erin

I am in the process of applying for an internship with the ACE program (Alliance for Catholic Education) for next year. The application asked for four letters of recommendation - two from professors, one from a peer, and one from a rector. The email I recieved today is from a professor I had last year for a class on Manliness, Gender, and Race in the Antebellum South. This class was by far the BEST class I have taken at Notre Dame. I learned so much! Anyways, this email provided a much needed boost during this seemingly endless week! 4 down, 2 to go.

lovely tuesday.

I still vividly remember coming to campus for Spring Visitation during my senior year. It was such a surreal experience. I had always dreamed of going to Notre Dame and I was one step closer to making that happen. I remember stepping off the bus, looking at the golden dome, and instantly knowing that I had found my new home.
I remember walking into main building to register and seeing Rudy playing on a big screen. I remember walking onto South Quad with my host and her saying to me "It is such a great day! God must have known you guys were coming." The quad was covered with students playing frisbee, cornhole, football, doing anything and everything to enjoy the beautiful day. Little did I know how rare these beautiful days would be during the horrible South Bend winters.

Anyways, the point of this story is that today was one of these RARE beautiful days. When I came to campus on that April afternoon I didn't understand why everyone was so excited. Well, as each winter comes and starts to fade, I am beginning to appreciate these days more and more.

Today was a beautiful day. Sunny, (semi) warm, and not too windy. Despite my lack of sleep in the midst of midterms, today was a lovely Tuesday.

fighting irish.

Last night I went to the Bengal Bouts Championships at the JACC ... I think the story of Bengal Bouts gives a whole new meaning to the term "Fighting Irish."

Then:

Organized boxing was started in 1920 by football coach Knute Rockne, but the event did not become known as Bengal Bouts in 1931 when it took on the purpose of raising funds for the Holy Cross Missions in Bangladesh. Coach Dominic "Nappy" Napolitano served as coach and director of Bengal Bouts for nearly 50 years and his words became the motto for the bouts:

"Strong bodies fight, that weak bodies may be nourished"

The Congregation of Holy Cross began its missions to East Bengal, India in 1853 under the invitation of Pope Pius IX. Beginning in 1931, the money raised has supported these missions to India. They have established and supported medical facilities, as well as elementary and secondary schools. These missions also include extensive outreach programs that assist the poor throughout the country. This includes everything from literacy training to medical care to occupational instruction. Needless to say, the money raised from Bengal Bouts is truly making a difference.

Now:

After attending the championships last night, I was very intrigued as to where the money they earned actually went. During my search, I crossed paths with the blog of a fellow domer. He was a Bengal Bouts competetor who is currently in Bangladesh, trying to learn more about where the money they raised goes. I read this post and was absolutely fascinated at the amount of good that a boxing tournament is doing:

"Today, on campus at Notre Dame, is the start of the 78th annual Bengal Bouts tournament. Even though I’m thousands of miles away from the ring, I’m as close to the action as you can get.


The Bengal Bouts are a series of charity boxing matches where the proceeds from those matches come right here to Bangladesh. Ever since I’ve landed in Bangladesh, nine months ago, I’ve been trying to find out where that money goes. It’s been a long journey - literally and figuratively, I feel like I’ve gone through hell and high water to get to this point. Floods, riots, curfews, Cyclone, Sidr, food poisoning, hospitalization of a family member, dealing with corrupt officials, dealing with a water crisis - jeez, it feels like the list never ends. Each time some new problem came up, my Bengal Bouts journey took a back seat.


I guess it’s just sheer luck that, when I was finally able to embark upon my journey to see where some of the Bengal Bouts money is being spent, it happened to coincide with the beginning of this school year’s tournament. My trip to Jalchatra (where I got to meet the tribal people known as The Garo) is but one of seven locations in this country that receive funding from the Bengal Bouts. It really seems like Bengal Bouts money goes to every corner of this country. I’d love to track it all and show what happens at each of the seven locations. Unfortunately, my outside-of-Dhaka travel resources are fairly limited (especially since I carry around all this camera and computer equipment wherever I go). For now, it’s my hope the few days I spent in Jalchatra can help shed a light for my friends back home about the good they are doing in this country.


It’s a good feeling to know that, while I am here trying to fight poverty on the ground, there are 185 of my fellow Irishmen back at Notre Dame fighting alongside with me. Fortunately, for me, my way doesn’t involve that many bruises."

Again, I am truly amazed at the people I am surrounded by. They take part in this tournament for something bigger than themselves. This inspires me to do more, to make a difference, and to remember what it means to be part of the Fighting Irish community.

one of those moments.

After nearly three years at Notre Dame, I have experienced a lot of new things ... some good, some not so good. I have met 7 amazing girls that are now my Notre Dame Family. I have met more people from all over the world than I ever thought was possible. I never cease to be amazed at the caliber of people that I am surrounded by on a daily basis. I have taken 30 courses, some of which I absolutely loved and some that were a true struggle to pay attention in. I have spent countless hours in the library, pulled many all-nighters, drank too many cups of coffee, and read dozens of new books. I have cried too many times to count, spent too much time stressed, but all the while, I have loved every minute of my time at Notre Dame.

It is kind of funny because it is so easy to get caught up in the day to day hustle and bustle of college life, that I forget how truly blessed I am to be here. I can remember telling mom and dad that I was going to go to Notre Dame someday when I was ten years old. I vividly remember the first time we drove up Notre Dame Ave and saw the golden dome (which is still one of my favorite views on campus). But of all the things I have learned while being here, the most important is that I absolutely love to LEARN.

It sounds a little funny to say that I love to learn, but I get so much enjoyment out of learning something new. As a history major, I am so intrigued by people and places. On a daily basis, I am in absolute awe of my professors. I am amazed at how much they know, how much they enjoy what they do, and how they are always striving to learn more.

Today, I had one of those "wow, I love this place" moments. Instead of the usual fascination with the beauty of campus, however, this moment was more in fascination of the aura of the university. I feel so at home going to class everyday, learning new things, talking with professors, and discussing interesting facts with my friends. I adore the educational atmosphere and cannot wait to learn new things again tomorrow.