Alice graduates as a leader

“I wonder if I’ve changed in the night. Let me think: was I the same when I got up this morning? I almost think I can remember feeling a little different. But if I’m not the same, the next question is ‘Who in the world am I?’ Ah, that’s the great puzzle!” (Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, 23). I have loved this quote for a long time – ever since I first read Alice in Wonderland in middle school. I even used it as my favorite quote on my high school senior yearbook page. While perhaps some might think this question is more prevalent for next class’ DB, I am reminding myself of this quote to remind myself of how much who I think I am has changed this year, especially in terms of my views of ethics and leadership.

I always thought of myself as a sort of leader. I had been voted captain of my swim team and ran very student council organizations all through school.(Being captain of my high school swim team, I thought I understood what being a leader meant.) But now, after taking an entire year of Bump’s Plan II World Lit, I see how naïve I was about my leadership skills. To me, leadership meant speaking up only when I felt very passionate about something. Being a good leader meant that I had to be very loud about my opinion and not really consider the arguments of others, because doing so would show weakness. This class changed all that for me. More specifically, the DBE’s changed that for me. Aside from never having written so many papers in my entire life, the DB assignments and the whole idea of a blog in general challenged everything I thought about being a good leader. I was forced to form my own opinions about topics I knew next to nothing about, topics I didn’t understand, and topics where I didn’t know what my position was. I was the type of girl in high school to sit back during intense discussions about gay rights or abortion because I truly didn’t know where I stood and I certainly didn’t want to offend anybody. This class has forced me to form my own opinions about almost every subject – and it’s forced me to do so while considering ALL sides of an argument and not just my own. I’m still not sure about my view of abortion, but I know if I had to go back to high school and sit through those debates again, I wouldn’t be silent. I would be listening to both sides of the argument and I would very proudly stand up and announce that I am not sure what I believe. This, I feel, is much like Alice who was originally concerned about hurting the animals’ feelings and never felt brave enough to stand up for herself. Eventually, after journeying throughout Wonderland enough and dealing with the animals, she learned that her voice was important and that she could no longer be a pushover simply to preserve the animals’ feelings. This was exemplified when she came across the Mad Hatter’s Tea party and exclaimed to the animals, after they told her there was no room for her at the table, “There’s plenty of room!” and then sat down! (Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, 69).

"Manners are not taught in lessons,' said Alice, 'Lessons teach you to do sums, and things of that sort,'" (Through the Looking Glass, 253). When it comes to ethics, Alice's words are exactly correct. You can't learn ethics by reading about them. You have to form your own opinion about subjects of ethics in order to learn about them. When I think of this, the first and most prevalent class material that comes to my mind is the documentary Earthlings.(image courtesy of:http://www.johnwise.com/blog/i/BLOG_050129200639_PST2B/Image/2007/March/20070311_IMG_Earthlings.jpg). When we watched this film, I don’t think I’m exaggerating when I say that a big part of my life changed completely. Like my classmates, I was so disgusted and appalled by the treatment of animals in this film that I simply shut down for a couple of days, unable to really talk to people or eat or do much of anything except remember the haunting images of animals being tortured and killed before my eyes. Now, I have learned to cope with what I saw and channel that into telling as many people as I can about the film. Before this class began, I probably would have heard about Earthlings and said – nope, not for me. I would have said that I would rather not know about what happens to animals, that I would rather live in ignorance. My view of ethics was sort of a don’t ask don’t tell kind of thing – I preferred my little bubble to the actual world where there was pain and suffering and uncomfortable subjects to address and deal with. Now I know that I cannot put the blinders on when it comes to issues like animal rights and other such topics that I can make a difference in. As I said before, I tell just about everyone about Earthlings and encourage them to watch it. I seek out other films and literature on the subject of animal rights to send out to others. I try to eat as little meat as possible and plan on becoming a full vegetarian once my swimming career is completed.

This class has done so much for me as a person, student, leader, athlete, and friend. I have learned compassion, I have learned understanding, I have learned about racism, sexism, ageism - every kind of discrimination, it seems. I know I have a lot to learn about all of this issues to come, but I feel very confident that myself as a person has been altered this year as a result of all of these new concepts. This class has taught me a new way to think and I am thrilled to know that I will never be finished learning new things and forming new opinions about tough subjects. World Lit is only the very beginning of my adventures in "Wonderland", it is only the door (or rabbit hole, if you will) for me to continue in this quest, much like Alice's own journey.

(This is a video I found regarding more animal cruelty. I showed this to my dad and plan on sending it out to my friends, as my new understanding of being a proactive leader has taught me to do.)