The key note speaker at our Connections class was New Orleans journalist, Chris Rose. The book we read was about a man who stayed in New Orleans during Katrina and his awful experiences. Although I found the book a little slow, (Zeitoun, Dave Eggers) the facts remain the same and I came to the realization that I am and will probably continue to be ignorant about things that don't directly affect me. I'm really going to try to change that.
Both Zeitoun's and Rose's accounts of Katrina were very moving and kind of inspired me, I guess. Rose talked about how he was asked to give a speech at a high school graduation the year of Katrina, to a school in New Orleans, and that kind of hit home for me because I just barely graduated. He said there is no such thing as an innocent bystander. There are only bystanders. We only have very few chances in our lives to make a difference, and we can't afford to miss them. He referred to life as a boat. Everyone is on a boat, paddling through life. Don't miss the boat.
I'm here to get an education, to make a difference, to find myself. To discover what I have to offer. I'm not going to miss my boat.
This is a video that he shared with us that I also found very powerful.
Let's hope and pray that Irene isn't another Katrina. But if it is, let us not be bystanders.
And let us not be bystanders in our own lives. It would be a shame to look back at the end of it and just see blank pages.
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