Reflection Of Oppression In The First Day Of Class

Before entering the class I knew what the word oppression meant, but when asked to define the term on the first day of the course, I struggled to find words. I thought of words and phrases that related to oppression like “a sense of hopelessness” and “unfair”, but none of these words adequately summed up the term. Oppression was loosely defined on the first day of class as, “cruel or unjust treatment or exercise of authority.” As the class continued, we added other details to add to the concept, such as human flourishing and voice. These additions added a depth to oppression that I had never before considers and I thought about the fact that if the single term “oppression” had so many layers, the stories of those behind the word must have even …show more content…
For example, my freshman year in college I began volunteering with the Room in the Inn at Belmont’s campus. I had never before worked with this population, so there were a lot of stereotypes that were to be broken down that semester. By sitting down with homeless individuals and hearing their stories and struggles, I was able to dig deeper into the issues on a personal level. This really opened my eyes to the amount of judgment I had shown before my experiences. The stories that I heard from the men at Room in the Inn truly opened my eyes to the oppression around me. Fast forward three years to about six months ago. I have been working for years now with the special needs community and have become an advocate for those disabilities. I had never had true training on how to be an advocate, it was just something I drove into. Through my internship I was able to go to events like disability day on the hill and had heard many stories about different advocates in the community, but had never really advocated for anyone or anything myself. That was until I met Ian, a 19 year old boy that was attending the summer camp I was working at. Ian was the camper that the other counselors did not …show more content…
At first I answered it in a general “Well I want to help others and I believe it is my duty.” The group I was discussing this with nodded in general agreement, but the more I really pondered on the question the more I saw how the information I have gained from this class has changed this basic belief. I now see my commitment to others being stronger, because I see more oppression around me. Along with that I see ways in which I can help. Commitment does not mean committing to fixing other’s problems, it is reaching out to help positive change when you can, whether that is as simple as sitting down and just listening to someone’s story, or going to a rally. I believe this change in mindset is due primarily to the knowledge I have gained over the past few