How Julia Kasdorf Changed My Life Essays

In How Julia Kasdorf Changed My Life, I was not able to relate to any essays except maybe one or two words in a few of them. In Daniel Cruz’s essay, “How Julia Kasdorf Changed My Life,” I related to him being 19 and going to Goshen College. In 2008 (the year I graduated high school and went on to being a first-year student here), I was 19. Also, I embrace my ethnicity (the countries I have in my blood) and my family tree, probably something most people my age will not do.

I, in a very tiny way, connected with Rebecca Rich mentioning Operation Desert Storm in her essay, “What Makes Me a Mennonite.” This is because my dad would have served in Desert Storm.

In Sidney King’s essay, “The paradox of My Mennonite Experiences,” he mentions supporting (though not himself) the United States troops. I was raised in a family where we support the troops. My grandfather on my mom’s side served in the military, my grandfather on my dad’s side would have served, my father would have served, and I would have served. In the future, if my kids want to serve, I will be proud of them and support them.

Just like everybody in class, I did not like Ted Houser’s essay, “Hans Herr and the Inescapable Lancaster County Heritage.” It seems to me that Houser was flaunting his (and his family’s) money. First off, what in the world is with the use of the word “inescapable?” Okay, maybe it is in his “blood” of having money. But it is his choice on whether or not to take the money. He could escape it. He can go work at a Burger King or something and have to physically work to earn just a little bit of money. But he probably does not want to. It must be nice to get an expensive vehicle just by being in a family that is so rich and also just by getting up at five in the morning. I would like to see how his family would make it in my family situation. My parents only bring home a few hundred dollars each but it is gone as soon as it is in the bank for the bills that we can barely pay; this June, we will have been living in the same exact mobile home (trailer) for sixteen years; I am the first one in my entire family to go to college (there was no college fund or anything for me because no one expected me to go to college because it just was not in our family so I will be paying all of the loans and grants back when I graduate); my dad is paying on three used vehicles so that we can each have a vehicle since our schedules clash…

When I hear that people have spent a hundred dollars on a pair of jeans, shoes, etc., I want to smack them on the side of their heads. I think that they should not be spending that money and spend it on things that are actually needed (bills, gas, food). This is the way I see things because of the circumstances I live in.