High School Field Experience

The United States has earned the nicknames “The Great Melting Pot” and “The Land of Opportunity” (as well as many others) as a testament to how diverse our nation has become since its establishment in 1776. However, there is still much work to be done in terms of encouraging people of various races and ethnicities all across the country to interact with one another on a regular basis. For example, the city of Chicago has residents of many different races; however, these races are heavily segregated from one another. We have Chinese neighborhoods, African American neighborhoods, Caucasian neighborhoods, etc. The problem is that such segregated neighborhoods prevent people of different racial backgrounds from regularly interacting with one another. I was lucky enough to be able to break out of this segregated system and interact with people of a racial group other than my own during this field experience. I attended the daily Hindu Aarti, or prayer service, in the Hindu Student Organization’s Puja room in the Damen Student Center on Loyola University Chicago’s Lakeshore campus. Aarti is held Monday through Thursday at 5:00 pm, and is used as a means of engaging the senses through prayer. There is traditional …show more content…
I knew it was hard to be of a racial minority, but reading about it and actually experiencing it the real world are two completely different things. I have read about what it felt like to be in this position countless times, but have never actually experienced it for myself. Going to the Hindu Student Organization’s Aarti service provided me to have a positive first experience being the minority, and I had the opportunity to experience first-hand just how uncomfortable it can be. One of the many positive outcomes of this experience is that I can remember what my discomfort felt like, and use that to help people who are in similar situations during my career as a social