Blog #2

In the Comedy of Errors, Antipholus and Dromio of Syracuse show up in the “fairy land” of Ephesus and revel in its exotic newness. They are outsiders in this new town, a town in which it is normal to accept spontaneous gifts of golden chains and go home with random women claiming to be wedded wives. In this instance, Antipholus and Dromio are confronted with experiences outside their realm of “normalcy,” and they conform to fit in.

         Similarly, my preconceptions of “normalcy” are challenged on a daily basis in Project Lazarus. Having attended an all-girls, predominantly Caucasian Catholic elementary and high school in the South, I have been hammered with “traditional” ideas of “normal” relationships for the majority of my life. Boy meets girl. Girl likes boy. They fall in love, get married, have a family. Happily ever after. But at Project Lazarus, this “traditional normalcy” is in the minority. Project Lazarus operates as a hub for all types of love: straight, gay, transgender, bisexual, asexual, you name it. So, I have to adapt to this concept of normalcy. Having grown up with a homosexual member in my immediate family, making the leap from one concept of normal to another is not too great of a challenge, but I am being confronted with new ways to think about the topic. One particular challenge is the ambiguity surrounding what constitutes “proper dialogue” when speaking about a transgender individual. What is the proper pronoun to use? I would assume that if a biological male identifies as a female, “she” is the correct pronoun to use, but I could be mistaken. “He,” “she,” or the ever ambiguous pluralized “them” are the available options and can vary from individual preference.

         Another direct cross-reference between Sir William’s works and my contemporary experience at Project Lazarus is the issue of the state and the law. In The Merchant of Venice Shylock goes to court and almost wins Antonio’s flesh, if it were not for the loophole about drawing blood. Interestingly enough, the state of Louisiana has very particular rules concerning “blood issues,” as well. In 1987, a statute was put into motion that decreed any HIV positive individual could be prosecuted for seven to ten years, in addition to paying a several thousand dollar fine, for the crime of hitting, spitting, biting, or scratching an HIV negative person. The crime in question here is “intentional exposure” to the disease. Louisiana is classified as an “exposure state,” as opposed to a “transmission state,” in regard to prosecuting over an HIV case. Meaning, transmission of the virus is not even an integral factor in facing jailtime. The worst part about this statute is the ignorance surrounding the disease. HIV is transmitted only through semen, breast milk, blood, and vaginal fluid. Meaning, the saliva from “spitting” (in addition to the other petty accusations) have NOTHING to do with the virus. It is so unjust that an HIV positive individual in 2014 still struggles against these short sights on the state’s behalf.

Assumptions SL blog 2

The word assumption describes Project Lazarus to the T. At the surface Project Lazarus is a transition home for people living with HIV and AIDS. However volunteering there for a month has taught me so much. Immediately I want to go in there and be non-judgmental. I keep reminding myself that they are more than their disease and that they hate people to look at them differently. I’m assuming that they want to forget about their disease and live a normal life; I assume that they are not comfortable with their disease and will not want to talk about it. I assume that I will be learning and not teaching, that I will be a fly on the wall in what is their home. Pretty much all of my assumptions were wrong. I was flabbergasted at just how much the residents did not know about their disease an equally as shocked on how willing they were to learn. The majority of them are open and honest about their past and greet us with nothing but happiness and anticipation when we walk in the door. I am learning so much from them, but they are also so eager to learn from me.

I knew before beginning work at Project Lazarus that most HIV/AIDS patients are also substance abusers. I had knowledge of the disease and spent about half of last semester directing a play and researching the history of AIDS. I honestly had no idea that someone could live with this disease for so long and barely know the basics. I was then told that most residents had some level of illiteracy, so the pamphlets that their doctor handed them upon their diagnosis meant nothing. The residents are proof at how urban myths are spread and the danger ignorance bears on the community. Often those of us that have the privilege of formal education don’t understand how people can believe things we see as foolish, but last week I saw ignorance rear its ugly head in the form of twisted knowledge and one voice leading the masses. All it takes is for one person to sound as though they are aware and the community which is incapable of thinking on their own is bamboozled into believing the false claims. The ignorance is not spread with malicious intent, yet one or two assumptions have led to the spread of these falsehoods; “If he said it, then it must be true”. They are so smart and so willing to learn that I hope I have enough to teach them. They give me hope that the world is not such a dark and demented place and that AIDS is not a death sentence. They open my eyes to the fact that the rich are getting richer and our poor are being left to die in their own ignorance.

These social injustices are not new to our era; they are also present in Shakespeare times, what if any comparisons can you make from my experiences?

Post #2, LBPF

           Finally able to embark on my service learning journey with my first training session at LBPF, I was able to make some concrete parallels with Shakespeare. Having known little about the organization and their mission prior to training, the only thing I could really muster was this idea of preservation. As a docent (or volunteer, usually a tour guide) training entails a lot. I attended a rigorous three hour session, which strikingly resembled a brutal theater rehearsal (I'm sure you theater folk understand just fine) memorizing lines upon lines. We sat around like a read through for a play, filing through the material we must cover when giving the tour of the lighthouse. In other words, a script was provided, and I was to learn it as close to perfection as possible.
         After the brief introduction to what we were to say to visitors, we went up to the lighthouse to "act it out." At first I was in the audience, listening to the script played out, and then I was was acting to an audience. It made me think about the Globe theater and if I was there; either side of the stage. It also led me to analyze the the audience and stage relationship. The idea of choosing not to break the fourth wall, or to go ahead and do it like the many asides and soliloquies in Shakespearian texts. The relationship between the actor and his audience must be a strong one. The one that must be stronger though, in my opinion at least, would be the actors relationship with his text and interpreting it. When it is not acted out for an audience though, and you find yourself just reading the text (like what we do for homework every week) the author must mold a character that would be appealing to the audience. Just as I myself must translate a text to come to life and sound interesting and manipulate my voice inflections etc, I still must work with the given text and develop a certain love or dynamic with it.
          In terms of what surprised or disappointed me, I was rather surprised to not be disappointed. Unlike the many other service learning options I thought I would enjoy more, I think this truly is the best fit for me. I'm so glad my supervisor JoAnn looked lonely at the SERVE fair and I just couldn't stand to see her alone (it's twenty minutes away and she basically praised the heavens when I said I had a car), she has already been a teach of sorts for me. Confused by connecting Shakespeare and service learning together, JoAnn tried make some parallels of her own. We briefly discussed social issues and addressing them to the masses. I then had the AHA! moment of the social issues/gender roles/ideas of rank and status etc., brought up in Shakespearian texts. I am doing the same thing, bringing information to an audience to take home and digest, or even just for it to be heard. 

Blog Post 2

I volunteer at St.Anna’s on Monday evenings. For the evening program, the kids come in usually at 3:30 right after they get off of school. I will typically pair up with one or two kids and help them with their homework. Sometimes the kids are cooperative and other times they show a lot of frustration. This is understandable, though, because the kids have been sitting in a classroom all day and are being forced to sit down and do more school work. After the students complete their homework, I check for errors and completion. This homework and tutoring process is interesting because it can be either very exciting or difficult. Sometimes the kids work independently and seem proud of their ability to do so– it’s nice to see their confidence. Other times this process is more difficult because I find that I need to continually find creative ways to explain concepts or get the kids to become more engaged. One day I had to help a second grade girl come up with a sentence using the word “culture.” After asking her a few questions and trying to see how she view the word culture, she ended up talking to me about the singer Selena for the rest of the day. Her enthusiasm was infectious and I was really impressed with how much she knew. Volunteers were encouraged at the training session to be a person that these kids can talk to and express themselves, even if the topic seems random or endless. It was nice to sit there and listen to her talk about Selena for hours because I knew she appreciated having someone listen and help her make her homework more approachable.

Once homework is over with, the students choose a book to read and read for thirty minutes. Depending on their age and reading level, students will sometimes read a paragraph or page and I will read the next paragraph or page. After the students complete a book, they create a sheet which answers questions about characters, plot, and conclusions; this allows us to see how the students are doing with reading comprehension. We were taught in the training session that most of the kids’ instant reaction to situations is anger and aggression. I noticed this the other day while helping one student in-particular with his reading. He had one page left and was dreading creating the reading comprehension sheet. He started kicking his chair and throwing pencils. I realized eventually that this reaction was because he was intimidated by the comprehension sheet and was not confident in his ability to complete it. I anticipated tantrums and aggressive reactions from the kids, but now realize that it’s not just for no reason or simply because these children become angry easily. I hope that I can become more in-tuned to why these tantrums start and learn to prevent them by getting to know the kids more. 

During our cluster conversation the other day, Paul was telling me about his topic, fate, for his critical concepts blog. I immediately saw a correlation between fate and Anna’s Arts for Kids. In the beginning of Romeo and Juliet, readers know immediately how the tragedy will end because we are explicitly told. In a sense, some of these children are perceived to have a certain “fate” due to their family lives, economic status, and race. For example, one of the directors told us that some of these kids’ families are in the drug trade, so selling and doing drugs is just what’s naturally in store for them and that it’s literally their “fate.” However, seeing the confidence that these children have and just how intelligent they are, I know that fate does not have to be such a definite thing as it is in Shakespeare. 

Post 2

My experience volunteering at APEX Youth Center so far hasn’t exactly been what I was expecting. I’ve had some trouble finding times to volunteer with the kids.  They only come to the center after school, and I have class during almost all of those times. It was disappointing to realize I couldn’t interact with the kids, and I’m in the process of trying to switch times with another volunteer.  Meanwhile, I’ve been coming to the center before the kids arrive to help with office work. Since I’m not actually interacting with the kids yet, it’s hard to feel like I’m accomplishing anything, but I have to remind myself that doing office work is still a form of helping.

I’ve been entering data into the computer the last few weeks at APEX.  I sit at a desk, going through pages and pages of sign in sheets.  I plug in the number of girls and boys that came each day, as well as their ages.  Our cluster convo the other day got me thinking on the topic of language.  I haven’t come in contact with the kids’ language yet, but I do read their names.  I had to continuously ask the volunteer head if the kids’ names belonged to girls or boys.  Often, she had to correct my pronunciation of their names, and then I would correct myself.  It was a little embarrassing to keep saying the names wrong.    I hadn’t seen or heard the majority of these names before, and it was a learning experience to add them into my vocabulary.

Despite the fact that I enter and exit the center before it gets dark out, I still don’t feel completely confortable on the drive there and when I get in and out of my car.  It’s become a habit to lock my car as soon as I turn off Claiborne and into the neighborhood surrounding APEX. It makes sense that the center itself has passcode locks on all of its doors.  I have to knock on the door every time I come for someone to let me in.  The signs outside the door and when you walk in give warnings like: NO WEAPONS and NO DRUGS. It’s not a warm atmosphere, despite the fact that its purpose is to be a safe haven for the kids from the violent world outside of it.  It has an almost clinical feel to it. As I sat at the computer this week, I kept getting déjà vu; it smelled a lot like a hospital or doctor’s office.

I was originally planning to focus my attention on the violence in and around the center, but because I haven’t had a chance to really be there with the kids yet, I don’t have much more insight on this issue.  All I can say is that the neighborhood is definitely not safe and that most of these kids live in a threatening environment.  The volunteer head has talked to me a little about their upbringings, but besides that, I don’t really know what they’re dealing with.  Personally, I’ve felt a little uncomfortable when leaving the shelter.  The teenagers waiting for the door to open were not happy or friendly.  One glared at me when I left.  From the poetry we read for the cluster convos, I can see where the hostility is coming from. 

Truthfully, I’ve become more confused about where to focus my service learning and how to relate it to Shakespeare. But, in the following months, I hope to figure this out.

2 Otto, APEX

Every Thursday at three-fifty I shut the iron gate which stands at the entrance to my house. My hand brushes the flowers which are overgrown but still beautiful and not in any way unruly. I get into my car and drive for five minutes into a completely different world. APEX’s iron gate entrance is somewhat different. It seems colder. There are no little yellow flowers growing through the gate, but instead, hand drawn signs saying things like “No Guns or Other Weapons” and “No Drugs” written in crayon and markers. 

I’ve only been to APEX three times but my experience is not at all what I thought it would be. I assumed that I would be helping the kids with their homework, talking to them, playing games with them, but that is not how things have turned out. My first day I talked to another volunteer for the first hour and then started reading The Clouds by Aristophanes. There were maybe five children at the facility and I was in a room where I was by myself. I felt like a ghost. My second experience was similar, and I managed to start and finish The Cay, a childhood favorite. The third day I went in I was doing office work, trying to remember how to use Excel and input information into the computer, completely in my own world. My interactions with the kids have been minimal. They seem disinterested in getting to know me and I am definitely an outsider. They run around shouting and their diction and rhetoric is unfamiliar. I have yet to adapt. 

Talking in class on Tuesday was helpful, because I realized that others were struggling with me. I don’t really know my place at APEX yet, I haven’t found my niche. I really want to integrate myself into the community but these kids go everyday to this place and spend time together and its hard to find something to relate about. I am a lit. major but these kids don’t want to talk about Snorri, Shakespeare, Dickens, or anything of the sort but they are very much into video games and youtube videos. I don’t know anything about that and when I ask, they try to explain but they don’t really care, they are more focused on whatever they are doing. 

The head of the program is great. I’ve talked to her a bit about the community, about the kinds of homes these kids come from, but it’s all things I knew or expected. I feel compelled to help in any way that I can, but I don’t even think that help is what these kids need. They are fine it seems. I don’t know what my purpose is at APEX yet. I feel like a glorified babysitter sometimes. I’m hoping to make more of this experience, I just don’t know how yet. 

Blog Post #2 Wage Claim Clinic

               My experience at the Wage Claim Clinic has been very helpful to my inner thoughts. Every day there opens a new set of ideas and possibilities for me. With every client I learn something about myself and about the world around me. Though I knew about the injustice in the workplace and how tough some of the workers have in for them, I had no idea it was that bad. Every day we hear pretty much about the same case, the worker did not speak English, had little to no interaction with the employer, was left working a lot of hours, and as a result gets tricked and is treated unjustly one way or another. With each case it sinks into my head how prominent this issue is. People are being robbed out of their pay because they cannot speak up for themselves. That is exactly what is being done in the wage claim clinic. The workers there ( many of whom are volunteers) really make it their business to help the client, and are extremely dedicated to the cause. Their passion for justice and helping others is really what drives the clinic forward.

 Something that has surprised me about it is how often it happens in New Orleans. If I remember correctly, one gentleman commented that this issue is worryingly big in New Orleans in comparison to other places. As a New Orleans native, I know about it’s beauty and flaws, but there are things that I just do not understand.  What about the city makes people think they can do what they want without having consequences?  What about it tells people they can cheat and deceive? These are very broad and abstract questions but I think the answer goes a lot deeper than the surface. I have not had any disappointments so far, unless you call losing hope in the entire human race disappointment.  I have however, encountered some difficulties with language.  99% of our clients are Spanish speakers and often times speak too fast for my intermediate comprehension. Still, my time spent there has been of the most eye opening and profound experiences in my life.

In relations to Shakespeare I see it much like in Taming of the Shrew where drunken Sly is tricked into thinking that he is king by the king himself.  That sort of deception for power that is done from those who are already powerful against those who are not disgusts me. It ties into the idea of greed, of always having the constant desire for more. 

Blog Post #2- Reflections from the first month or so at APEX

            Service Learning at APEX Youth Center has been a mixed bag so far.  First, there have been just unlucky practical reasons, mainly bad weather keeping kids away from the center during January.  Another reason, however, is that all the kids want to do most of the time is play video games.  That is understandable, I cannot judge because that is what I was most down to do when I was in middle school and early high school too, but for a volunteer, there is nothing to do but just watch them play video games.  My expectations were probably a little unfair to these kids, not because they all do not have homework to do or anything like that, but a lot of kids at the center are spending time there because they do not go to school at all. 

            I think that I assumed a lot of these kids came to APEX for help, but most of them are not looking for anything besides a place to socialize.  The kids I have been around the most are just there to hang out, nothing else.  I’ve been in more of a position to just listen rather than to interject myself into these kids’ lives.  There is a fine line between being in the background just listening and being available, and not being involved at all.  The space between the kids and the volunteers has surprised me, as I thought the kids would be more open to us.  I have had experience in the exact same neighborhood coaching basketball, but all the kids at the center come from different schools or homes so I think there is more of an air of distrust among the kids at the center.  As I have gained more experience at the center, some kids and I have grown closer and that has been nice, but for the most part, I am defiantly on the fringe of most of the kids’ perceptions. 

            I think there are two relatable topics to Shakespeare I have experienced.  First, just by listening, occasionally discussing, and on one occasion witnessing violence, I think my first SL Blog post was on point in looking for violence while working at APEX.  These kids are often discussing confrontations at school, and are quick to use the threat of violence on each other at the center.  All though these kids are not wielding weapons or anything, they seem accustomed to at a young age a fight or die mentality.  When talking to some of the kids how they can avoid violence at school, they sometimes seem put off by any suggestions I make and even escalate their language with me.  However, most of the kids who have been involved in violence are noticeably worn out by it, almost as if they do not even understand it, and seem interested in ways to avoid it.  The second Shakespearean theme my SL has made me think about is role reversal.  I am a white, employed, college student who lives a comfortable life while gaining an education from a private university.  All things considered, people normally look at me in a positive light without even getting to know me, while this “influence” and trust is given to me, even if I have not deserved it.  At APEX, I am the marginalized one as I am not someone in the eyes of a lot of kids to trust, I have do not have a lot of influence over what I want done at the center and I am the one who is trying to catch up and adjust to a way of life. 

Ultimately, APEX has been a humbling experience so far and although there is still some uneasiness between some of the kids and myself, I look to nourish relationships I have started going forward.  Also, I am about to start coaching basketball at the center too, which should be fun and a good chance to know some of the kids better. 

Blog Post #2- Katherine Seitel

Thus far my experience with the Uptown Shepherd Center has been unexpectedly engaging and intellectually stimulating. So far I have participated in the Shepherd’s Drama and Poetry classes, both of which are taken seriously by participants, but to different degrees. In the drama class my lack of theater experience was met with disappointment since most in the class do not have theater backgrounds they thought that my being in a Shakespeare class would mean experience in theater. But, they have been welcoming and more than willing to include me in the play. I’ve spent more time in the poetry class and have really enjoyed their approach to poem reading and digesting. They read the poems as one voice for many of the poems, though sometimes individuals will read a poem aloud. The group reading is really interesting and reminded me of our discussion of performance during Shakespeare’s time. The layering of voices, each with unique intonation, emphasis and tone make for a completely new way for me to experience poems. In my other experiences with poetry there is the strict understanding of punctuation dictating breaks, but because there are so many voices reading at once, attempting to read as one, these breaks are not accomplished. And it’s really enjoyable. At last week’s poetry class there was a question of morality and how people of my generation have a difficult, or impossible, time understanding what a moral decision is and how morality functions in society. This was thought provoking for me because I think of as morality seems very subjective, which could perhaps be why they didn’t think people my age understand morality. I was called on to defend all young people and after explaining how I think morality is really complicated and nuanced the leader of the class said that I defended young people well. My favorite part of the poetry class is that each poem comes with a long anecdote from one of the people attending the class about their specific experience with something similar to what happened in the poem. The themes discussed in the poem function as a springboard to tell a story, not to inspire a discussion about the poem itself.

            As far as my initial concerns about my placement I still feel like my presence is more for my benefit than the people that I’m working with. I am contributing to their classes in that I am a fresh perspective and can serve as the voice of a different generation. But, I do get the feeling that I’m not bringing any special skills to the group and often feel kind of like an anthropologist. I’m given access to a space I wouldn’t otherwise have access to and feel a lot like outsider observing, though occasionally participating, a group. This is fun for me and I’m really enjoying my time at the Uptown Shepherd’s, but at the same time I don’t feel like I’m performing a service for anyone but myself. The longer I volunteer the more comfortable I’ve gotten and the more willing I am to speak in classes. But, I’ve still not figured out what to do when classes are not in session. When I’ve asked my supervisors if they need a hand with anything they say no and I’ve had a few occasions where I’ve sat and tried and failed to make conversation with ladies doing puzzles; I’ve noticed that the people who don’t participate in the classes aren’t that interested in chatting with me. I’m still figuring out what my specific role should be, but I do think that the longer I volunteer the more confident I’ll be in helping out and the more comfortable they will be in giving me responsibilities.

            

Taylor Hebert, SL Blog Post 2

            In my service learning so far, I have already garnered more wonderful anecdotes than I would have anticipated for the whole experience. My expectations of the placement were quite accurate. I knew that I wouldn’t have any intense revelations about service or social justice. Instead I anticipated many casual yet informative conversations about people’s lives and their experiences; which I have found to be just as or more important as learning opportunities. The tasks that I am assigned are seemingly menial, sorting, polishing, organizing, but while I do them I get to have these great conversations. The one thing that I realized about my role was that the people I was working alongside are residents and enrolled in treatment right now. I thought perhaps the staff and volunteers at Bridge House were alumni of the program or other volunteers like myself, but no. The people who work all aspects of the store are in treatment right now, and in various stages, or they are convicted felons working off community service hours. My supervisor, is an alumnus, and rightfully boasts how he is two years clean. One woman I met had just entered the week before, and was complaining about a withdrawal headache to another worker.

            That being said, people presumed that I was also “new” in the program, and dealing with an addiction myself. I had to admit, somewhat awkwardly that I was a service-learning student attending a private university. Though I always feel strange, people generally treat me well, if not very well because they know that I am just there to help, and that I am willing to do the tasks that no one else wants to do, like sorting hangers. The funniest moment like this was when a customer came up to me and started giving me the “light at the end of the tunnel” speech—saying how if he could conquer addiction, I could too, because I was young. Then he just walked away and I didn’t get a chance to say anything other than “thank you.”

            One personality I encountered, who shall remain nameless, is in the final stages of her treatment. We talked for several hours about her time spent in Bridge House, and she talked about her driving force behind recovering from alcoholism and drug abuse is her daughter, who at the moment is a ward of the state. Before coming to Bridge House, she was hospitalized for third degree burns all over her arm from when the father of her child tried to set her house on fire, and she was trying to save baby pictures. She is in the process of interviewing for jobs and getting her resume together. Talking about her recovery process, she was confident that she will get her life together the first time around, and how she’s seen many people go in and out of treatment because they are only responsible for themselves. But this woman described that her motivating force in to see her daughter’s face again. I can relate her experience to the character of Egeon in The Comedy of Errors, who risks hell and high water to find his long lost sons. The state had separated them and the chances are against them, but I believe that Egeon was not half as passionate to reconstruct his family as this woman at Bridge House is. And for that reason, I have no doubt that this woman will be at least successful as Egeon was. Unfortunately though, life is not that serendipitous, and alcoholism and drug addiction are diseases. And for that reason, I thank God that a place like Bridge House exists.

Shakespeare at Project Lazarus

Discovering Project Lazarus in September of 2013 was truly kismet for me.

Mere days prior, I had auditioned and landed the role of Kimberly Bergalis in Loyola’s production of Patient A. To provide a little context: Kimberly Bergalis was the first known individual to contract HIV from a health care worker (her dentist), meaning this was the first known instance of clinical transmission of the virus. The Bergalis family commissioned playwright Lee Blessing to tell the story of her young life and struggle with the disease, and thus, Patient A was born. Played by three actors, the script is particularly compelling, because it manages to weave Kim’s story against the backdrop of the greater AIDS epidemic throughout the 1980s, all the while educating the audience. In many ways, Blessing’s Patient A reminds me of Shakespeare’s works in that they both highlight timeless themes such as justice, life, death, and identity.

So, let’s rewind back to September 2013. I’ve had a few days of Patient A rehearsal when Kelly Brotzman enters my Spanish American Narrative Memoirs as Political Texts classroom and presents our Service Learning options for the semester. Plowing through the presentation, we pass APEX Youth Center, the Harry Thompson Center, Passages Hospice & Sanctuary, as well as numerous other worthy foundations. Waiting humbly at the bottom of the list is Project Lazarus. As Ms. Brotzman begins explaining that Project Lazarus is a transitional housing facility for people battling HIV and AIDS, I immediately revel in the coincidental timing of my involvement in the production with this opportunity. I knew I needed to be there.

Almost all desired things in life require a level of dedication and work to achieve the pay-off. For me, this ambitious appetite and unwavering work drive are key ingredients in reaping the benefits of Shakespeare’s dense literary lasagna. Serving at Project Lazarus is no different. Residing in the Marigny, its facilities are the farthest of all the service learning locations. In addition, because of the gravity of Project Lazarus’ mission and serious nature of its work, a résumé and interview are mandatory hurdles prior to placement. As a carless undergraduate with no paper copy of a respectable synopsis of my achievements to date, I had to procure mobility and a smart résumé. It seemed this extra bit of “red-tape” deterred other volunteers, because I was the only student at the time opting to volunteer there.

The beauty of serving at Project Lazarus for two sequential semesters is the gift of witnessing growth and knowing that I have had a tiny hand in that process. Seeing long-term goals come to fruition fills me with a sense of incomparable pride, such as when a resident finally reaches the degree of financial, mental, and medical stability to move out and practice healthy independence. I feel confident that considering my time at Project Lazarus through the lens of Shakespeare’s rich social commentary will lead to a well-rounded critical experience.

APEX Community Center- SL Blog #1

            I know this blog post is late, but I was under the impression that the first Service Learning Blog was due after our first day at our placement.  Oh well! The thing that attracted me to do the Service Learning aspect of this class was that I never would have thought doing such work would relate to Shakespeare in any way.  When you hear “Shakespeare”, you distance the topic to a time and place far away from modern times, or at least I do.  However, after reading The Comedy of Errors, Taming of the Shrew, and The Merchant of Venice, it becomes clear that won’t be the case.  I wanted to do my service learning placement with local youth, because I have tutored a lot before and wanted to continue that work.  So I looked at APEX youth center and Boys and Girl Club among others, but ultimately picked APEX.

            I picked APEX because it was in a neighborhood that I have personal experience within Central City, and is a community that is in desperate need for youth leadership.  I am particularly interested in seeing how I relate to kids at the youth center, as I will be dealing with kids as young as eight or nine, but also possible seniors in high school.  I also picked APEX over Boys and Girls Club because it is more of an informal environment and I think that is a better place to listen to kids and hear what they are going through on a day-to-day basis.  I hope to be able to interact with the kids and just get a taste of what their daily life is like.  I have worked in impoverished, violent and desolated communities before, but with Central City being so close to Uptown New Orleans where the university is, I’m curious to see how two drastically different neighborhoods can interact and be so different from one another, yet so close.  I also have a goal of helping resolve at least one confrontation between kids and perhaps aiding a child in getting a C average in his or her class this spring. 

            I think this placement will help me with understanding the more subtle ways Shakespeare explores social issues, especially inequality and violence.  At the time that Shakespeare was writing, he was not aiming to push a social agenda, however, he still was able to bring these issues into his writing.  I’m curios to see how modern issues relate to Shakespeare, but more specifically, what in our modern thought process have allowed these issues to still be so pressing when Shakespeare was writing about such things over 350 years ago?  I think that it will be important not only to see similarities in what Shakespeare has to say about social issues and what I see today, but to see the similar causes to such issues.  Violence is defiantly the issue I am most interested in exploring.  I am curious to see how and why some of these youth in Central City are so confrontational with each other, and if anything in Shakespeare can help me understand those problems better.