Adwait Chafale

I’ll admit, I was apprehensive to attend the Adoptee Rights Campaign extra credit opportunity. Though I knew that the opportunity was for a good cause and had good intentions, I questioned whether to go. Frankly I feared I would feel out of place. One of my noticeable flaws is how little I know about governmental issues. As a student busy in my intense academic and extracurricular work, I often feel far removed from policy making. Part of the reason is because I feel inferior to those who are in power and have more knowledge. Like any human, I try to find where I am comfortable.

But after a few of my friends decided to go, I decided to venture out. At the deliberation, the speaker discussed the role of the Adoptee Rights Campaign (ARC). Their goal was to pass an act that ensures that all children of US citizens have the same rights, privileges, and protections under law. The speaker described the current status stating certain adopted children of US citizens are denied automatic rights to US citizenship. This is contrasted with the citizenship status of children who are born in the United States. As a citizen by birth, I found this topic to be intriguing. Despite having parents that are citizens, many of these adoptees live without citizenship. Because this fact is not as well known, the speaker gave cases in which adoptees had to be deported. Coming from parents who are immigrants, I realized how palpable the fear of being deported is. Many individuals come to the United States to create a new life and image. Similarly, these adoptees look to create a future for themselves within this comparatively wealthy nation. In fact, many come here so young that they know no other home.

Advocating for this important issue, the speaker also took the time to show us students how to become more involved. For the first time, I felt compelled to join politics and create a change. By drawing me in, I was more invested in learning how I could help. One of the pillars of advocating that she taught was perseverance. As a student, my credibility is very low. For this reason, It would be important to gain the support of a representative. Because of my low credibility, time would have to be spent on making telephone calls and appointments. She also stressed how important it was to go through this with a team. With a team, motivation is cultivated and fostered. These members can come through Facebook, professional networks, employment, or even religious organizations. Persevering through the rejections, when a call reaches a district office, it is important to me in-person appointments. Technology is a useful medium to gain support. But it lacks in showing personal emotion and drive. For this reason in-person appointments allow the representative to see the drive and passion behind the idea. Though these appointments are hard to come by, follow-up emails are a good way of showing initiative and drive.

While this presentation advocated for the Adoptee Rights Campaign, the strategies described will help me in the future. Drawing me closer to political issues, I feel I have the skeleton to make a change of my own.

One of my favorite directors in Indian Cinema is Raju Hirani. He has this uncanny ability to appeal to the large masses through his humor. But somehow as you are clutching your stomach in pain from laughing and the tears pour down your cheeks, you somehow always learn. These films are timeless in not only their humor. They allow you to see a life beyond yourself. For example people who watch Bollywood films usually hold actors on an elevated pedestal. There is a sense of awe that surrounds these individuals who hold an almost godly level in our mind. We aspire to live the lives their lives, breath their air, and walk their walk. Thus when a film has the ability connect with the entire Indian populace and teach them something subliminally; it is a sight to be seen.

Sanju is a story of a biography of a famous movie actor who is convicted of terrorism. Following his life we see his life through an up close lens. From his mother’s death, to his drug addiction, to his time in prison, the movie goes through the most fascinating parts of his life. But rather than being a quintessential Bollywood movie that is saturated in multiple musical numbers, this movie uses the music to effuse emotion in the audience. Strategically placed throughout the movies, viewers can enjoy the upbeat songs that they love while still feeling as though it takes the movie forward.

These strategically placed pieces of music allow the audience to learn more about the issue at hand: drug abuse. Drug abuse is often an aspect of society that many people in India ignored. They turn a blind eye and fail to recognize the fact that issues like these occur right around the corner. But this movie allows people to understand. It allows people to recognize that issues like these occur in society and they aren’t simply a distant endeavor. Often times people feel ashamed to get help due to the societal ridicule, but movies like these allow people to feel empowered. Since many people look up to these actors and the character that they play, individuals suffering from drug abuse feel as though their life has hope. They are empowered to come out and get the help that is necessary. While we may not be making the change towards acceptance directly, by watching films like these it empowers others to follow and make meaningful films.

I have a love hate relationship with politics. It’s….complicated. Sometimes I want to exclaim with joy at the beauty of democracy. Other times I sit by the television day in and day out, glued in anticipation at the future possibilities. But then there are those days that the constant bickering of the news anchors make my head pulsate so much that I want to pull out my hair. It’s hard to understand politics but it’s even harder to keep a calm head when thinking about politics.

Vice is the story of former vice president Dick Cheney and his rise and fall in power. He uses his platform as the new Vice president to make fundamental changes in our country. Though his tactful relationships and brooding personality he is able to navigate the political sphere. Weaving his way in and out between his family and his political endeavors he somehow is able balance the pressures of both and survive to be an influential Vice President.

While this would make for an interesting drama, director Raul Inglis takes another step and uses the story to create a humorous and whimsical aura. Through boxy fonts and interesting pieces of music, the atmosphere of the movie is effuses a new yorker modern day-businessman aura that creates for an interesting story. There was not a single scene within the movie that over utilized or dramatized a heart throbbing moment. Every scene was carried at the same level.

In a way this style of storytelling showed the necessity of carrying on. Dick Cheney’s success was found in his ability to rise from various downfalls and carry on. Despite various difficulties and health problems he was able to carry forward on his quest to changing the country. The movie showed me that the singular moments are not what are important in life, but the collective meaning of each of these scenes woven together. While popular belief may feel that such endeavors must come at the expense of family, this story showed the opposite. Instead, family is what allows one to have the energy and drive to crawl up from the pits of despair and work their way up to success. Without family we forget what is important and how to rise from days when we feel we cannot rise anymore. Using family and a interesting way of storytelling, Vice is able to capture the audience and show them how to move forward.

This process of deliberating was very enriching and allowed me to dive deeper into various different topics. In my deliberation, Overcoming Opioids Timely Approaches to the Crisis, I was able to understand more about a topic I was interested in. But, in the deliberation I attended, A Timely Warning: Penn State’s Policy for Sexual Assault, I was able to learn more about a topic I did not know as much about.

Both deliberations had a solid information base for their topic. When looking through the issue guide there were multiple facts and figures that allowed the interpretations of approaches to be simple and strategic. An aspect that the sexual assault deliberation took the time to do was to find graphical representations that went along with their approaches. During the deliberation this helped immensely because rather than re-reading the blocks of texts detailing the approach, the graph provided the general information that could foster new thoughts. Similarly the research used in my deliberation emphasized the necessity or the difficulties of the approach. This put the approach in perspective for deliberators.

Though these topics are often well known which can evoke preset opinions, the firm base allowed other advantages such as the re-prioritization of key values. These new perspectives in both deliberations allowed for key values to be mulled over. This is also due to the fact that we had individuals in both deliberations that were willing to look at a new perspective also. As they considered the new perspective this allowed for a broad range of solutions. Another aspect that the sexual assault deliberation used was asking the audience if they thought their comment could lead to a new solution. I think this was an interesting tactic because it allowed the audience member to dive deeper into the conversation. This brought more depth and perspective to the conversation. After a possible solution was stated the deliberations would then weigh both the pros and cons. My group especially made the point to place an emphasis on this. For example during my approach of increasing research on therapies, by first talking about pros and then cons individuals were able to use to focus on one side the approach without falling prey towards doubt.

While the sexual assault deliberation did do this to an extent, during approach two one of the facilitators was not able to adequately consider others ideas and experiences. I think this individual was so passionate about their stance that it began to take away from the conversation. This was because after multiple statements, this individual would attack the perspective versus furthering the conversation. Thus this made many participants feel a lack of respect to the degree that would be required to discuss freely. This resulted in a decrease of personal examples throughout the deliberation. Having had this experience during my deliberation my fellow facilitators and I ensured that each perspective was considered and discussed. This was done by opening the issue to the group and showing an engaged expression.

Though there may have been a few pitfalls, all in all these deliberations allowed me to gain a new perspective on issues that are affecting our communities today. As future leaders of America, these conversations allow for a greater range of policy nurturing that is essential to our success.

We spend years learning. Year, dates, facts and figures. Hours are spent both day and night to drill these small pieces of information into our head. After the one week, we wait…until the next year when we learn it all over again. Years, dates, facts and figures. Years, dates, facts and figures. We become so accustomed to the details that often times we forget the story. We forget to relate to the issue and understand the hardships. We grow so tired and weary of constantly having the information that we forget the history; we forget the importance

If Beale Street Could Talk is a an story of two lovers directed by Barry Jenkins. The story is set in the 1900’s in the midst of racial segregation and disparities. The two lovers fight to be together all while their new baby is on the way. But when the pregnant African-American woman finds her fiance in jail, she fights for everything to get him out. In a story wrought with racial tension and disparities, the purity in their love transcends all barriers.

The power of this story for me lies in the fact that it is a middle class families story. These individuals get an education like the rest of us, wake up and go to work like the rest of us, and laugh at the same jokes as us. These is a sense of relatability between these individuals and us. Rather than detering masses from watching this, this connection between these fictitious characters and the audience is what keeps us watching. We immerse ourselves in their life and become the characters despite our different backgrounds. As we empathize with the characters, the issues surrounding these characters become all the more real. We understand what it is like to suffer from racial injustice. We feel the emotions that course through the characters; and if your like me, we lash out at the screen the same way the character do in the scene. The history of injustice becomes more palpable and it allows us to learn – learn from our history. We learn how to empathize and be simple human beings. As we empathize we create a string of unity between people of diverse backgrounds. By the time we see another individual that is different we think twice before stereotyping them and ridiculing them with our preconceived notions. We become united one thought at a time.

Before I was born, all my brother wanted was a younger sister. Enthralled in the livid universe of Arthur, he desired to fulfill his dreams becoming the character Arthur. But in order to complete his pristine replication one piece seemed to be missing: a sister. For an entire year he would imagine a younger sister half his height with a short brown haircut, the pink dress over the white long sleeve tee or in other words D.W. A year later he sadly got me – a boy.

Around the same age as my brother, the dream of having a younger sister began to seep into my mind. I began to imagine my parents bringing home a young baby girl with dark curly hair and blue eyes. Traversing various parks that dotted the United States we would climb every jungle gym, swing on every swing (after teaching her to swing of course) and even play in the sandbox together. But like my brother, I too was disappointed.

Though I don’t have a sister, today I fail to fathom a life with a sister. With all the diverse experiences that have shaped my families life and story, I failed to even conceive the different memories that could have occurred had another sibling come into the picture…well until yesterday.

Finishing half of my homework before midnight, I decided to treat myself to a movie. After surfing the web for a few minutes, I stumbled upon the movie Badhai Ho. Another bollywood movie, this film follows a middle-class punjabi family. Written in perspective of the oldest son of around age 28, after a difficult night his father breaks the news that his mother is now pregnant. The family begins to grapple with not only familial conflict but the influence of public scrutiny on their actions.

As these family members slowly heal the scars of their family, questions begin to arise such as the importance of public perception. My biggest takeaway from this film was to filter out public perception. Inevitably people will always talk and whether it be good or bad this information will be sensationalized in one way or another. For this reason we must not receive our self worth from people in your surrounding community. Rather, it is important to remain confident in your family and yourself because only then will the town gossip diminish into nothing white noise but noise nourishing a more positive ecosystem in your life.