Emily Grise

Co-Curricular Activity Essay 2

The ideas I have been introduced to in college differ from those I have been taught as I

have attended church for the past three years. This has caused me to begin to reexamine how I

view my faith and how that relates to others in order to find where I stand on these issues. This

will likely be a long ongoing process of growth, but I feel as if I will land somewhere in between

these two “sides” to which I have been exposed. Larycia’s story is one of those stories that

makes me question what I am, and should be, doing as a result of my faith.

Towards the beginning of her speech, she poses the question, “Who are you going to be

in the face of injustice?” When pondering what I would do in her place, I am not sure that I

would have done what she did to show solidarity with Muslim people. She wore a headscarf for

an entire, I believe, holiday season in response to Muslim women being stopped at airport

security, an idea that originated from a student of hers. Her actions were a way for her to show

love to those who were receiving anything but. This talk helped me see this, however,

beforehand, the idea of participating in wearing something that is associated with another

religion would have made me uncomfortable. It would have made me feel as if I should not be

wearing it. Her speech made me realize that this is not what it is about at all. She was not

participating out of belief, but out of love. To stand in solidarity with others for their protection

is an act of love. Another point she makes that pushes my reexamination of how I view my faith

is her use of referring to those she stood up for as her “Abrahamic brothers and sisters.” When I

see other religions under different names I see a completely different set of beliefs, however, this

assumption is not completely true. I can recognize and appreciate beliefs shared by Christians
and other religions, especially by looking at our common origins. Seeking out these new

perspectives is what Larycia Hawkins has encouraged me to do.

At the end of her speech, she told attendees, “I am not teaching you how to make profits,

but how to be prophets.” This correlates with the quest for a liberal education. What is taught in

college should enable students to speak boldly about what they believe in, whether this be their

faith, a strong opinion, or passion. Yes, ultimately most people come to college to get a degree

that is necessary for a career they wish to pursue, but it does not have to be limited to just this.

While in college, it is nothing but an advantage to dive deep into the foundation of our beliefs.

The “Why are we reading this” section attached to David Foster Wallace’s Consider the Lobster

ends with “Are you prepared to go through college (and life) as something more than a tourist?”

(212). It can be easy to coast through college without taking a second glance at why we believe

in what we do, but this is not beneficial. Consider the Lobster questions whether people should

or should not be cooking lobster in a place where everybody is doing so. This was daring for him

to put the actions of everybody involved into question. He goes back and forth on whether it is

humane to cook lobsters alive, eventually landing on the decision that he will continue with

eating lobster. Though he ended up where he originally stood, his consideration was beneficial.

Even if we do not experience a drastic change during the quest for a liberal education, it is

necessary to do this questioning. It makes us firmer in our beliefs, enabling us to defend them or

share the foundation for them more thoroughly if the opportunity arises.

This reexamination, particularly that which occurs in the quest for a liberal education,

points directly to Plato’s The Allegory of the Cave. This story begins with a group of people

stuck in a cave watching shadows, upon which they based their belief. When one member

escapes and gets through the initial discomfort of the sun, he discovers what has been forming
their beliefs all along. “And at this point he would infer and conclude that the sun provides the

seasons and the years, governs everything in the visible world, and is in some way the cause of

all things that he used to see.” (20). Just as the sun created what the people in the cave saw, every

action we complete is a result of what we believe in. It would even be said that actions are

worship of who or what we put our faith in. To adjust how we see the world, we need to look at

what is behind how we view everything, what forms our viewpoints.