I was well aware that something special had happened during my time as a Julian student, and as I mark the 16th anniversary of my 8th grade graduation, I marvel at what has become of it.
I had been shaped in so many significant ways during my years at Julian in those characteristics that are so important in describing fundamentally who I am as a person. The years since, especially since graduating from ValpU, have had abundant opportunities to put to use those characteristics in giving of myself to others.
One great example happened 9 weeks ago, on April 6, when I served as an election judge for the municipal elections in Oak Park. As with the previous four times I've worked at a polling place, I was assigned to serve the 16th precinct at the Maze Branch Library. For me, there is a distinctly spiritual aspect to serving as an election judge at that location, because my home parish of Ascension is located in precinct 16. And there are many parishioners who live in that precinct and who I see on Election Day.
I saw a few fellow Knights of Columbus come to vote, along with the parents of my former Religious Education students, and even some parents of students who I was currently teaching at the time in grade 8 class. It was great to have that opportunity to connect with them, and made all the effort I put into the long day worthwhile, especially when meeting one mom who I had never had the chance to meet.
One couple came by about half an hour before the polls closed, three of whose children have been my students in RE class. Their oldest had just turned 18 earlier in 2021, making this day the first election she was eligible to vote. As I talked with the mom, she told me her daughter had missed the deadline to register. When I informed her that she could register right then and there on election day, she was clearly unaware of this possibility, and she immediately contacted her daughter about coming to register and vote.
After the parents left, their daughter walked in a few minutes later. I made sure to offer some pomp and circumstance to her arrival into the room before I sat down at the e-pollbook to register her.
The excitement of the moment was not lost on me one bit, that after having taught her in RE class years before, and even being present for her Confirmation, I could be a witness to another important moment in her life, and be part of that process by registering her. That moment really stands out among all the memorable interactions of that day.
As I reflect on Election Day, April 6, I see so many of the most important aspects of my life converging. I served at the Maze Branch Library, which was the place I first came to appreciate the role of libraries and the impact they have on my life, ever since my Kindergarten class took a field trip there. I then opened myself up to the opportunity to serve my community by volunteering there during the summers in my teen years.
And then I was back at Maze to serve the community by working as an election judge, exercising my civic duty, contributing to the democratic process of the republic of the United States. It was in middle school that I came to first appreciate the story of the USA, and how I could take my part in upholding it. With that sense of patriotism, I was so excited to vote for the first time almost 12 years prior to this year's election day, and just about a half-mile away, when I walked into the Oak Park Conservatory to vote for the first time on Tuesday, April 7, 2009, which was also a municipal election day.
Furthermore, it was also in middle school that I came to first appreciate my faith in a deep way. It seemed fitting that after becoming even more zealous for faith while at ValpU, I would go back to middle school by teaching RE to current middle schoolers.
I have realized my middle school experience in a profound new way by being part of handing on the great gift of faith to others, especially my students. And it was so exciting in the case of this one former student, after having taught her, to hand on a sense of civic duty and patriotism by registering her to vote, and be there for her first time voting.
Indeed, it's experiences like Election Day and each week of RE class that give me so much reason to celebrate my 8th graduation 16 years later, because of what I've made of it.
No comments:
Post a Comment