Citizenship Reflection

Decent Essays
When I signed up for this honors citizenship course and heard that it would be worth forty hours of community service, I envisioned our class going out every weekend to help a society like Habitat for Humanity or a local soup kitchen. When I arrived, I was very surprised to hear that we would be interviewing inhabitants of historic Optimist Park, a neighborhood in Charlotte, NC. One of our first assignments in the class was to define what we believed citizenship to be. I said that citizenship meant that a person belonged to a community and was protected by it. While I still agree with this definition, I think that my definition has matured throughout the semester due to many journal entries such as the first one about John Rawl’s “Veil of Ignorance” …show more content…
You are usually unaware of how they will react and try not to make eye contact. I am sure that I am not the only person to act this way, it is very easy to do and seems like the safest response. When Dr. Thomas came to speak to us about the homeless and Moore Place, I thought it would be a terrible idea to give the homeless free housing. I didn’t understand that tax payers have to pay for the homeless medical bills when they need attention. After learning that Moore Place statically saves taxpayers money, I experienced a paradigm shift. While visiting Moore Place to prepare for our event on November 21st, I spoke to an inhabitant who said it was the best thing that had ever happened to him. Half-way houses like Moore Place help the homeless get back on their feet while preventing them from needing expensive trip to the hospital. I wish the American public knew more about places like Moore Place. It is a wonderful solution to the major homeless problem in the United States. This solution helps the public fulfill their role as citizens by helping others and saves money in the …show more content…
The scariest part about being homeless is the lack of instruction given by others. It is so difficult to seek help because you don’t know where to go. I think that more money should be spent advertising for solutions to homeless problems. In a modern internet filled world, its easy to forget that some people are living with it and the wealth of information it provides. The poverty simulation helped me realize that problems that others have also have an impact on me. Since I will spend tax money helping the homeless, I would like to make sure that it is being use effectively and efficiently. The poverty simulation truly showed what it means to be a good citizen by helping others who are less fortunate than you. In the future, I hope that I am able to apply what I have learned in citizenship class to my life by stopping when I see a homeless person and asking what I can do to help instead of turning the other

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