Mission Statement

I want to fulfill all of my dreams, big and small. I want to be happy every day waking up for work, not knowing the challenges I may face that day. I never want to stop working the hardest that I can, having inner motivation that drives me, or cower down from any obstacles. I am unstoppable, inspired, and can do whatever I set my mind to. Success in my career and family life are things I strive for. Keeping my best friends close and my siblings even closer for the rest of my life would be idyllic. Still finding time to travel the world, relax with an interesting book, and go to the beach will keep me a happy girl. I will not cease until I become a broadcaster and am fully content with every sector of my life with the ones I love most.

Sources of Identity

A factor that has affected my personal identity is my family. My two parents, Karen and Mike, and my two sisters, Christine and Siobhan, have shaped my character and influenced who I am today. Even my cousins and grandparents have taught me valuable lessons that I still use today. My sisters and I have a strong bond that is strengthened with every passing year of our lives. After my sister Christine went to college, Siobhan and I began to appreciate and utilize the little time we had with her on her breaks/summer. I think this affected my identity because now I try to live life to the fullest during my everyday life and take no time for granted. My mother and my father have also kept me grounded yet given me fantastic opportunities that will help me reach my goals in life.

My closest friends have also affected my personal identity. I’ve had the same four best friends since kindergarten from my grade school Immaculate Heart of Mary. Although none of them attend Mount, I still hang out with them every weekend and talk almost every day with at least one of them. These girls have become my second family, and have taught me to look for certain characteristics they possess in my future friends. I’ve learned every valuable lesson there is to learn growing up with them, and gaining basically four new sisters that I still possess today. While at the Mount, I’ve also gained a group of really good friends that I hope to keep in touch with after graduation. Finally, my various sports teams have affected my personal identity. I believe that belonging to a team and learning sportsmanship, teamwork, and communication skills are some of the best things that sports can offer to a developing child/teenager. Without sports, I don’t know what I would identity myself with. I used sports to gain friends and propel my self-confidence during my childhood years. I played a multitude of sports throughout my life, and now have finally narrowed it down to three. Sports kept me active and occupied most of my time, so I don’t have many other hobbies. The Mount volleyball team was my favorite team by far. I grew so close with all of the girls over the past four years, and I’ll never forget the championships we won and the memories we made. The Mount homepage even commemorates our season by using our championship picture as the welcome picture to the website.

Invisible Women

“In the Land of Invisible Women” I found the limited access to education and the little to no repercussions from the revolution to be the most disturbing. Yemeni girls have virtually no chance to obtain an education from the government or their local village. Men, however, have a much greater chance to become educated and learn the necessary skills they need to get a job later in life. Also, the Tunisian revolution in 2011 which eradicated the dictator government was seen as victory by Americans. There was no change in the lives of women, however, in Yemen. Thankfully, most women see this as a catalyst to bringing more rights to the future of their generations. Compared to my 18 year old life, Yemeni women have little to no rights equivalent to my own. The education and voice offered to the Yemeni girls would not even be comparable to those offered to myself. This article furthered educated me on the atrocities happening in 2013 around the world as we speak.

Forgiveness

I think that restorative justice is a shocking alternative to the non-forgiving and strict criminal justice system. This, if administered properly, could save friendships and give people that second chance that they might not have gotten before. However, I do not think that the world is up to date with its’ view on forgiveness yet. The maturity level and faith needed to want to pursue restorative justice is at a high I’m not sure most people can achieve. If restorative justice continues its path to becoming an accepted criminal justice tactic, I would be thoroughly impressed. I wish it was realistic, but I do not think people, Americans especially, have enough faith to accept this form of forgiveness. Restorative justice is definitely more in keeping with Catholic Social teaching because it employs all of the catholic social teachings, especially the forgiveness tactics.