Brisny Rodriguez Flores
Professor Comuniello 
FYE
29 April 2022

Requiem: A Forest of Stories

My mission is to be able to give back to my community in a way that is true to myself. 

I wish to be able to learn as much as I can, not in the classroom, but also outside of it. I wish to be able to understand and hear the stories that people are willing to share, and to place myself in a way where I’m able to listen to them. Through this, I hope I may be able to help them or even just be there for them. 

In this way I hope to help give comfort or even acknowledgement  to the people who may need it. Showing that, yes they can be heard. And yes there are some who can listen and even give back. The strength and level of change that gives people, is vast and has been most publicly noticed with Father Greg Boyle (‘Chapter 7: Jurisdiction’ by Father Greg Boyle- Moreau FYE Week 7). Who, through breaking down his own barriers, was able to let others into his  jurisdiction, and as a result was able to listen to the stories and reasoning of the people he tried to help the most. 

Through this, I hope to be able to eventually allow more people in, past the shields that I have built and past the barriers I have made. So that they too can see my story and to be able to listen as well. But there are two main things most, if not everybody needs to be careful of in doing this. One is that in the process of letting them in, we as those who listen, must make sure we don’t take control of the situation 
. This should be a give or take relationship. One that isn’t marked by a singular person taking complete control of the situation. Second, a trait that may go hand in hand with the first, is that we need to make sure we don’t become their voice. As Professor Steve Reinfenburg stated, “Solidarity with the poor means not to try to be the voice of the voiceless,” he said at the workshop. “This is NOT the goal. The goal should be that those who have no voice today will have a voice and will be heard.”, (‘Teaching Accompaniment: A Learning Journey Together’ by Professor Steve Reinfenburg-Moreau FYE Week 9). 



I wish to be successful in my student life and, in the future, in my career. Through this, I wish to bring, not just pride to my family, but also be someone that somebody could look up to. Someone that they could look to and say, she made it,  so that means I can too ( which growing up was a key motivator in my life).

Through this, by becoming a figure in people’s lives, I hope that I can open the conversation of race and immigration in a deeper more current fashion than the ones that have currently been taking place. Dr. Robin D’Angelo has stated that ,”“We can manage the first round of challenge by ending the discussion through platitudes — 
usually something that starts with “People just need to,” or “Race doesn’t really have any meaning to me,” or “Everybody’s racist.” Scratch any further on that surface, however, and we fall apart.” (“Why It’s So Hard to Talk to White People About Racism,” by Dr. Robin D’Angelo - Moreau FYE Week 10). This lack of discussion with a group that most minorities don’t really interact with can and has been found to be detrimental as it has often led to an echo chamber or a bubble. As the few minorities who may discuss it with this group or oftentimes those who have views that most align with it.  With an echo chamber and bubble being defined as “Echo Chambers: a social structure from which relevant voices have been actively discredited’
‘Hearing a very narrow narrative on the internet’ - that is what a buddle is, …‘Bubbles can become echo chambers when the group gives up tolerating outside views.’” (How to Avoid an Echo Chamber by Dr. Paul Blaschko - Moreau FYE Week 11). 

But to be able to talk about race, about immigration. To be able to help people like me, I must first be able to face what happened the summer before my 5th grade year. Dean G. Marcus Cole (Dean G. Marcus Cole: 'I am George Floyd. Except, I can breathe. And I can do something.' Dean G. Marcus Cole - Moreau FYE Week 12) has stated that “ What my friends may not know, but surely suspect, is that each report of racial violence at the hands of a police officer or group of men brings to the surface the vivid memories of that terrible night.” He had the strength to tell the story of what happened that day. And while no one was hurt in mine, I wish to one day be able to talk about my own story. 

Through this, I hope to obtain the strength and courage to one day help the rest of the kids in my community, who had to go through the same situation I had to, growing up. Be it in applying to college or even having to take the necessary steps to get through the loss, temporary or not, of someone they care about.