Reflection on Mission, Values, and Engagement

1) I believe that we should help anyone in need. Trying to help the environment by keeping it clean is important because if we did not have a clean place where we lived, went to school, etc. it would not be a pleasing place to live. I believe that if we help others, it would eventually come back and when we need help others would be there to help us when we need it.
2) On the first day of school at NDNU, I was shocked by the diversity in the classes that I was in. The previous schools I went to, I was surrounded by the majority which was asians. I was always considered the majority but it felt weird on how I was considered a minority in the school, I just was not used to it. I never considered myself racist and going into a diverse community made me believe that I was not because going into the school with the knowledge and learning that I really was not racist made me feel more content. This is important because everyone is shown as an equal no matter their skin color or what they identify as. I think it is important for everyone to know that even though someone may be different than you or may have a different view than you, they are still the same and deserve the same rights that you have.
3) When I first started NDNU, I told myself that I was going to attend all my classes and never ditch them. However, as the time passed, I found myself wanting to ditch because I kept telling myself that there was no point in going or because I saw my fellow peers ditch because they rather catch up on sleep. I thought if I did the same thing my grades would not suffer that bad if I skipped one or two classes whereas some people I knew skipped multiple weeks. However, I continued to have this debate with myself and told myself how expensive college was and that I should push through because it was going to be worth it in the end if I did not ditch any of my classes.
4) My class was on sustainability and honestly, I was never really one to recycle. I would just throw it in whatever bin it looked like the trash was supposed to go in. But after taking this sustainability class, I learned that it is important to recycle because everywhere is polluted and if we do not make a change, we will not be able to fix our damage and endangering ourselves. This did make the classroom experience more engaging because I got to know what the impact of all the trash and pollution it was doing to the place we live in, some countries having it worse than we do but eventually we would all end up in the same place if we do not do something to try and fix it.
5) I think diversity is knowing that someone is different than you. Knowing that someone is different than you but you still accept them for who they are because everyone should be treated equally and with respect. We should embrace diversity because if we did not have diversity there would only have one culture and we would never get to experience anything different if we were judgmental about everything we  thought was different than ours. Diversity is a gift because without it everyone would be the sam and have the same ideas and values and nothing would ever improve.
6) Because I commute, it is harder to find a community in which I belong but I think a community can be however large you want it andI am honestly fine with having a community with just a couple people who I became close to and could rely on. Through similar classes and just asking for help in those classes, I found people I can actually depend on no matter what.
7) Even before i came to this school, I was engaged on community service and how even if we volunteer in our community for a couple hours a week or even a month we can impact the community we live in. Also, even if we embrace everyone the same way we wanted to be treated no matter the race, ethnicity, or what people identify as, the community we live in would be more just to everyone.

Performance event

On Friday October 28, I went and saw "A Little Night Music." The performance and performers were wonderful and you could tell that they spent a lot of time and effort preparing for this day. There was also a lot of teamwork and sportsmanship needed to pull off this performance. The audience was very responsive and some parts of the performance were tear jerkers. You could see how the audience lean forward in their seats as a dramatic scene approached and wanting to see what happened in the next scene. I think this performance was significant because it shows how much time and effort was made to give us, the audience, entertainment. It brought together the school and community while we were watching the performance. 

Sporting Event

For the sporting event I went to, I went to a lacrosse game. This lacrosse game was the one against the alumni so I thought it was important. The current and the alumni team met in the middle of the field, with one member from each team standing in the middle, like a face off in hockey to determine who would have the ball first. The NDNU students won the face off against the alumni so they had the ball first, passing and rushing to get the ball towards the alumni goal. After the interception, it took a while before the first goal was made. In the first quarter, the goalie did an amazing job and only let two in out of about 20 shots. Each quarter was 15 minutes each and during the game, there was a lot of communications against the players from both teams such as, "next time", "up town", "three hundred", "good shot", etc. There was good sportsmanship between both teams and there was a sense of pride from crowd and the team players as well. This game was important because even though they were playing each other, it brought a unity for both past and present students at NDNU.