https://padlet.com/migfig97/we5hdvwryqyf Made with good vibes en-us 2016-12-12 19:57:09 UTC 2026-01-07 11:19:51 UTC hello@padlet.com https://padlet-assets.s3.amazonaws.com/icons/Rafaelo.png migfig97 https://padlet.com/migfig97/we5hdvwryqyf/wish/143235982 In the beginning of the semester I came in not wanting to do community service because I thought it was going to be not worth my time. I came in having negative thoughts about this class because it is a required course set by Dominican which I thought was not necessary, but after taking the class I feel that I have grown and learned new things about myself and the class, that have helped me better myself and now I interact with people I never knew or thought I would have a relationship with. As the semester went by I feel that my acceptance of people, my responsibility, and my workmanship grew more for the better. The community service lead to growing in my acceptance of people that society in a way makes everyone look down upon such as homeless people, society has created this negative stigma around being homeless, but through my community service I learned that that stigma surrounding these people is all wrong, they are like anyone else and we should not have this negative stigma for people who are down on there luck because that just leads to them having more obstacles because everyone believes in the stigma so they will never truly get out of the struggle they are in. Going to do community service also just made me a lot more responsible because it made me more punctual and made me more of a team player, when I say team player, I mean one team one dream so whenever they would need something I would try my best to get it done because we are all working/volunteering for the same objective. ]]> 2016-12-12 20:16:50 UTC https://padlet.com/migfig97/we5hdvwryqyf/wish/143235982 migfig97 https://padlet.com/migfig97/we5hdvwryqyf/wish/143250272 Tattoos on The Heart Theme-Through parts of the book Boyle and the gang members showed compassion and that compassion ended up leading into the gang members starting a new (new beginning). It is seen when Boyle decides to open up a school for kids impacted by gang banging, just shows his dedication/compassion he has to see these kids succeed is incredible, he offers the kids an option to keep their education/knowledge growing but it starts with the compassion he got when everyone else gave up on them when things seemed dim, but he offered a new beginning to those who wanted to accept change. 

 Fire in The Ashes- Through one’s own personal self-change, you discover whether you are meant to do/be that in an upcoming future, but through that journey you will face obstacles that might make you change your path or might make you stop that path completely. For you to truly follow the path your heart desires you must overcome obstacles and you must have support from your peers, because without support you are fighting a battle alone. Vicky was a fragile woman with her life all setup for her, but then her husband passed away from an illness he had since birth and she was stuck with both her kids and was always trying to meet ends needs to survive. Even though Vicky was not successful many times, she kept on fighting for the better of her family and through it all she came out getting what she wanted from her hard work which was a better life for her kids which occurred when Dr. Edwards called and spoke to Vicky. 

Living Budha Living Christ- In Living Buddha, Living Christ Thich Nhat Hanh, the prolific Buddhist teacher and practitioner/theme of nonviolence, considers the seeds of love, understanding, compassion, and personal transformation which have grown into the flowers of Buddhism and Christianity. He believes that the enlightenment of the Buddha and the loving kindness of Christ are kept alive when each of us dwells in the moment. "To take good care of yourself and to take good care of living beings and of the environment is the best way to love God." Overall I felt that there were multiple themes portrayed throughout the book and there was just to much to try and capture from this book to say there is a single theme it is trying to portray.

]]> 2016-12-12 21:37:18 UTC https://padlet.com/migfig97/we5hdvwryqyf/wish/143250272 migfig97 https://padlet.com/migfig97/we5hdvwryqyf/wish/143252779 .  One book that I felt stood out to me the most was Tattoos on The Heart because it captures this compassion Boyle and other gang members have when Travieso is beaten “I have seen a great deal of horrifying things in my lifetime-nothing however compares to the sight of this kid (a wonderfully, gentle souled kid) with his head swollen many times its size. It is breathtaking. I can barely keep my eyes strained on him as I smear sacred oil on his forehead and we say good bye in the pull of the plug…’Is there anything I can do?’ Clever asks with oddly high energy, ‘Can I give him my blood’… ‘He…was…not…my… enemy. He was my friend. We…worked together.’”(Ch. 6 pg. 145) I felt this captured the transition from compassion to start a new, because Clever being of gang relations instantly heads into violence for an answer, he loved Travieso and now he’s gone so it would only seem fair to give the favor back, but with Boyle’s compassion and support, he lends a helping hand to Clever who is down and Clever decides/realizes that revenge won’t solve anything and that is a big game changer because Clever in a way started a new chapter in his life in which he does not respond with violence because of Boyle’s compassion. Boyle stood out a lot and I enjoyed watching Boyle use the gang member’s compassion/values to benefit them in life and Boyle understands it is not easy to show that side of you that is most vulnerable “Sometimes you need to walk in a gang member’s door, in order to introduce him to a brand-new door. You grab what he finds valuable and bend it around something else, a new form of nobility. You try to locate his moral code and conform it to a new standard that no longer includes violence and the harboring of enemies.”(Ch.5, pg. 115) Just this whole thing just made me realize that there is no need for hate or revenge because to truly get past the negative aspect of something you must first accept the negative and learn to coincide with it and get past it because if not it will slowly eat you until you get revenge and solve nothing. ]]> 2016-12-12 21:57:09 UTC https://padlet.com/migfig97/we5hdvwryqyf/wish/143252779 migfig97 https://padlet.com/migfig97/we5hdvwryqyf/wish/143255111 Throughout the semester we were always asked to reflect and be mindful, before I came to LAS, I would rarely use these two skills and as more and more classes went by it was integrated more and more into my homework and life. Throughout the semester i feel that both of these grew a lot more and a lot stronger because of the constant use of it in class and for homework. When it comes to living life being reflective is very important because you must realize not everyone has the same life you do so when saying something or doing something, you must always relay to others why you are doing this because what is normal to you might be something irregular to someone else. Also being mindful is key in life because you do not want to hurt yourself or others, you must always consider who you are dealing with and who your audience is because you do not want to offend anyone and you must always have a sense of respect and morality to assure you treat everyone equally but with respect. In my life my mom is the one who helps me enact these notions because she expects me to be mindful of who I am dealing with, but also reflect on what I have/am because that person I might be dealing with, might not have the same beliefs/notions I have. And truly the only thing holding me back from using these things is myself because I speak my mind without thinking sometimes and that either helps me or hurts me in the long run because I never took anything into account. ]]> 2016-12-12 22:15:43 UTC https://padlet.com/migfig97/we5hdvwryqyf/wish/143255111 migfig97 https://padlet.com/migfig97/we5hdvwryqyf/wish/143256920 As I move on I hope to better myself by gaining more independence, being more responsible, and being more mindful of what I do/say. I plan to do this by making it in life and when I say that I mean i will become what I want to be in life by keeping up with my current responsibilities such as school and work to assure that I make it in life and grow and develop myself to a more responsible human being. I plan to grow in my mindfulness by just being more cautious of my surroundings and what I say because in the future I want to be an accepting person of anything the world has to throw at me because it is forever changing and I must be ever changing as well.]]> 2016-12-12 22:31:43 UTC https://padlet.com/migfig97/we5hdvwryqyf/wish/143256920