Whew! Half-way done with the semester and I still feel like the odd-one-out. Especially after reading Kim's post about both sides of her family being Mennonite. Although I'm not complaining and no one should feel bad! Of course, I have always been the odd-one-out. Sorry, I was talking to myself. I have my ideas that are very much different from everyone's in class. I am not a pacifist, I believe in violence when it is necessary. I don't care about any and all things religious. I can't even connect with any of the readings we have done in class so far! Of course, it is a Mennonite class and... Sorry, talking to myself again.
With everyone being able to connect with each other because of food or tracing their heritage back several generations or being pacifists or anything else while I can't, I feel like I am the odd-one-out. It makes me wonder if there is anyone in class who can relate to me in a way or even know what I am talking about! Of course, this might just be a topic for another day or another generation. But apparently not even for this generation.
Hey Jamie,
ReplyDeleteI'm sorry you feel so left out in the class. I hope you can know that even though you can't connect to the denomination/religious affiliation of the class, as individuals we really value your opinion and appreciate your perspective! It takes an "outsider" voice to allow us to look at what we really believe and in essence challenge us in our comfort...and we (or at least I) really value that. So I'm glad you're in the class.
Is there anything we could do to help you feel more welcomed?
Jamie, thanks so much for sharing so much from your perspective and your life in this and your previous two posts. You are really letting the class get to know you and I hope that this will give us more ways to connect. It's tough taking a "Mennonite Literature" class when reading and discussing Mennonite topics makes you feel left out. What this class really challenges you to do is to see the Mennonites as "people"--the beliefs may be somewhat different, but the humanity is the same. Then, to take those human conflicts and relate to them through your own experience. Part of what this class can do is help you to define your own family's values and characteristics more clearly. Mennonites, in Kasdorf's poem "hoe our our thistles and do not dance." What do the Parkers do? They rescue dogs and do target practice. You are the first one of them to go to college, etc. Use the framework of the poems and stories to inspire you to claim your own images and values. Then share them with us. You've written about so many intriguing and thought-provoking things in the past few posts--plenty to explore further for this class, and for the personal essay, due Monday! Remember that I've left a creative option open for the final project, so that if you do not want to do an analysis of Mennonite literature, you can write some of "Jamie's fiction or poetry, inspired by reading Mennonite literature." And, as Becca says, please tell us how we can make you feel more a part of this. Thanks again for sharing your thoughts with us.
ReplyDeleteJust a p.s. here--most of the Mennonite writers we're reading also felt that they were the "odd-one-out" in their community. Writing, for them, was a way to understand their relationship to the community, or to criticize what they didn't like. Maybe you can relate to this?
ReplyDeleteHi, Jamie. I'm not in your class, but I am interested in it--and in you and your response. There's a reason, beyond whatever academic requirements you may have, why you are taking this class. If I took a class on Jewish Lit at Brandeis, I am sure I would feel totally out of it a lot of the time. But what an opportunity to find what your professor calls "windows" and "mirrors" to one's own life. By the miracle of the internet, here I am, a Mennonite who spent a lot of time at your college, cheering you on. I love your feistiness, by the way. You are shaping your own identity out of what is, and what is not, who you are. The process can be painful. The result, priceless.
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