Journal 3
(examples of citizenship)
During the beginning of this course, all of us were told to choose an adjective that we thought was appropriate to describe citizens or citizenship. Each of us ended up choosing very different adjectives ranging anywhere from splendid to anomalous to keen. I personally chose the word “enduring” to describe citizenship because if there is one thing, in my opinion, that is important about citizenship it is consistency. At the time that I chose this adjective, I just thought that it sounded right. However, the longer that I learn and think about citizenship and what it means to be a good citizen, the more I realize just how important it is that someone’s sense of good citizenship be lasting and consistent rather than just an ephemeral concept that they periodically use when they see fit.
Very generally speaking, citizenship is about playing your role in your community in the way that is most beneficial to all those in the community. It is easy enough to randomly be kind to a random stranger, and it is even easier to attribute those acts of kindness to good citizenship. However, the thing that is important to peoples’ roles as good citizens is that they consistently demonstrate the qualities of a good citizen. If someone is randomly kind to one person but then fails to even recognize the existence of someone else, then are they a good citizen? It’s hard to tell because these are two isolated instances. In order to tell if they are really a good citizen or not, then you need to measure the consistency of their actions. By no means am I trying to nullify the good deeds of people, because many times those good deeds are what make someone’s day. However, I am saying that if someone is going to be considered a good citizen overall then they should be consistent in the way that they treat people and interact with the community.
When meeting people while abroad it’s been hard to judge if they are good citizens or not because many of the interactions I have with people here aren’t very extended interactions. However, there are two people I can immediately think of who I believe to be good citizens: Cheti and Christi. Both Cheti and Christi demonstrate the qualities of good citizens on a regular basis. They are both kind and accommodating people. Though there is a bit of a language barrier between many of the students in the house and them, they both go out of their way to have meaningful interactions with us. At least in the environment that I see them in, Cheti and Christi are both consistent in the way they interact with everyone. Since I’ve seen the same behavior lasting time and time again, I would say that they are good citizens.
Another person who has demonstrated the qualities of a good citizen is Roberta. Roberta’s sense of citizenship is unfaltering. I’ve seen her treat every person in the house with the same kind-hearted manner. Though she has her own life, there have been many times when she stayed late to help one of us out or used her own time and resources to help us out. For instance, the other week when Giovanna, Shayla, Darius and I went to the immigration office with her she used her own car and gas to drive us there and back. From the behavior that she has demonstrated all semester, I know that this is something that she would have done for any of the students. In this way I would consider her a good citizen.
It’s people like Cheti, Christi, and Roberta who inspire me to change the way that I view my own citizenship. As I finish up my time here in Italy and return to America, I plan on striving to apply this principle to my own life. Ideally, I would like to be more consistent with the way that I behave and interact with others. I admit that it is always easy for me to be kind to people whom I like. However, if I want to be able to consider myself a good citizen then I need find a lasting way to distribute what I have to offer un-biasedly.
Very generally speaking, citizenship is about playing your role in your community in the way that is most beneficial to all those in the community. It is easy enough to randomly be kind to a random stranger, and it is even easier to attribute those acts of kindness to good citizenship. However, the thing that is important to peoples’ roles as good citizens is that they consistently demonstrate the qualities of a good citizen. If someone is randomly kind to one person but then fails to even recognize the existence of someone else, then are they a good citizen? It’s hard to tell because these are two isolated instances. In order to tell if they are really a good citizen or not, then you need to measure the consistency of their actions. By no means am I trying to nullify the good deeds of people, because many times those good deeds are what make someone’s day. However, I am saying that if someone is going to be considered a good citizen overall then they should be consistent in the way that they treat people and interact with the community.
When meeting people while abroad it’s been hard to judge if they are good citizens or not because many of the interactions I have with people here aren’t very extended interactions. However, there are two people I can immediately think of who I believe to be good citizens: Cheti and Christi. Both Cheti and Christi demonstrate the qualities of good citizens on a regular basis. They are both kind and accommodating people. Though there is a bit of a language barrier between many of the students in the house and them, they both go out of their way to have meaningful interactions with us. At least in the environment that I see them in, Cheti and Christi are both consistent in the way they interact with everyone. Since I’ve seen the same behavior lasting time and time again, I would say that they are good citizens.
Another person who has demonstrated the qualities of a good citizen is Roberta. Roberta’s sense of citizenship is unfaltering. I’ve seen her treat every person in the house with the same kind-hearted manner. Though she has her own life, there have been many times when she stayed late to help one of us out or used her own time and resources to help us out. For instance, the other week when Giovanna, Shayla, Darius and I went to the immigration office with her she used her own car and gas to drive us there and back. From the behavior that she has demonstrated all semester, I know that this is something that she would have done for any of the students. In this way I would consider her a good citizen.
It’s people like Cheti, Christi, and Roberta who inspire me to change the way that I view my own citizenship. As I finish up my time here in Italy and return to America, I plan on striving to apply this principle to my own life. Ideally, I would like to be more consistent with the way that I behave and interact with others. I admit that it is always easy for me to be kind to people whom I like. However, if I want to be able to consider myself a good citizen then I need find a lasting way to distribute what I have to offer un-biasedly.