This week was a little more exciting at Mother Seton. Kelsey came in and immediately asked me excitedly, “You go to Loyola right?” This surprised me because she is a very quiet girl, almost never speaks unless spoken to. I told her I did and she said she had been at Loyola that day for the Health Fair. She told me all about it, and showed me all the cool free stuff she got here. They each got first-aid type goodies, and also a Loyola College t-shirt. She seemed upset that she didn’t get to see me on campus, but I had no idea she was going to be there.

Since this was the first week I had been to Mother Seton since my museum experience, I was thinking a lot about it while I helped Kelsey with her homework. She is smart, charming, funny, and she has a good head on her shoulders – not necessarily the first four attributes I would give to any kid running around Baltimore. She wants to go to college – something else unusual from what I’ve heard about inner city Baltimore kids. I’m glad to have had this experience, because it gave me a new perspective on my own perspectives. I don’t give people enough credit. While I’m not volunteering because of Year of the City, it did end up giving me a whole new view on Baltimore. Yes, there is crime – more often than in some other places – but there is also culture and beauty and good people. I think we often miss that.

I think Loyola’s Year of the City was an overall success. I would have liked to go to the wrap-up talk but I wasn’t here that night, so I don’t know what anyone else thinks about it. However, for me, it made a real difference. My work at Mother Seton, the lectures I’ve been to, and everything else related to living in this city have definitely changed my views and stereotypes. I know see the beauty in the city just as much as I see the bad. It puts into perspective the needs of our own home. Not only are people dying from starvation and poverty in Africa, but there are people in Baltimore too. Yes, the bigger population of these people may be in third world countries, but who is to say we shouldn’t help our own brothers and sisters right here right now. I know that there are people that need our help all over the world, but those easiest to help may be right before our eyes. The reason all this enlightenment came from Kelsey was because she told me once she had a sister who was 6 months younger than her. I asked how that was possible, and she nonchalantly replied “oh, we have different moms.” Her attitude towards this was so different than mine. I was appalled, when she was just happy to have a sister her age. I began to wonder what her family was like, and if they were living in poverty, or for all I know they could be richer than I thought. After all, they do have their kids in Catholic school. Who am I to judge what kind of people they are? If we weren’t in Baltimore, would I have the same stereotype? My Year of the City volunteering at least made me conscious of these questions, and now I just have to work on putting them into action, and recognizing when I do judge people who I have no right to judge.