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#Post#: 150--------------------------------------------------
Prompt #3 Challenged belief or idea
By: Professor McFarlane Date: April 16, 2020, 7:29 pm
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Prompt #3: Reflect on a time when you challenged a belief or
idea. What prompted you to act? Would you make the same decision
again?
What it means: Keep in mind how open-ended this prompt truly is.
The "belief or idea" you explore could be your own, someone
else's, or that of a group. The best essays will be honest as
they explore the difficulty of working against the status quo or
a firmly held belief, and the answer to the final
question--would you make the same decision again--need not be
"yes." Sometimes in retrospection we discover that the cost of
an action was perhaps too great. However you approach this
prompt, your essay needs to reveal one of your core personal
values. If the belief you challenged doesn't give the admissions
folks a window into your personality, then you haven't succeeded
with this prompt.
What They Are Looking For:
--That your motivations for challenging those beliefs are
grounded in your own beliefs and values
▪ You are a thoughtful, independent thinker
▪ You are curious, and engaged with the world around you
▪ Specifically whose beliefs you challenged
#Post#: 421--------------------------------------------------
Re: Prompt #3 Challenged belief or idea
By: ArianaReyes Date: May 25, 2020, 3:48 am
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I remember the first time I walked into that room, I was nervous
yet deeply angered as I didn’t even want to be there. I sat
down, scowled, and made it obvious that I hated every passing
second. I remember the teacher on the left was a male, he was
docile and I had some patience with him. The other was a woman,
I already knew I would have to be quick witted around her.
During the end of our orientation, I remember the male asked us
all to be sincere, to raise your hand if you came voluntarily to
confirmation class or if you came by force. I remember many
rose their hands when he asked who came voluntarily, I rolled my
eyes since I knew they were all lying. When he asked who came by
force, I was the first one with my hand raised. Even with my
lack of social skills, I held it up high and held eye contact
with him while my classmates stared at me. That’s when a few
slowly rose their hands as well, class was dismissed, and I had
to stay back with other kids as the teacher wanted to talk to
us. He just told us that he was grateful that we were honest,
and that he just hopes we will give it our all even if we didn’t
like the class. I just nodded and left without saying anything.
Surprisingly, I made friends there. I met this group of rowdy
individuals when we all met at church to go give out sandwiches
to the homeless. I sat with my only friend at the time,
Jennifer, which I was beginning to know. From there, we began
making jokes and even exchanging contact information. However
our one issue was our female teacher, the most passive
aggressive individual I’ve ever met. She didn’t like when we
would talk with one another even when it was work related, so
she separated us. Yet even then, I still remember the moment I
finally went against her beliefs, or well the beliefs I too was
supposed to have. On this day I sat next to my friend, he was
much younger than me so he often came to me for advice and to
vent.I looked at him like a younger brother I never had, he was
always so happy yet the one thing that held him down and brought
about his insecurities was his sexuality. He was gay in a
catholic class for confirmation, just peachy. While we waited
for class to start he confessed to being a target for bullies in
his school due to his sexuality. I comforted him to the best of
my ability but we both got distracted when my friend Angel
tapped my shoulder. “She’s here” he mumbled out while looking at
the front of the class. I looked over and felt myself dreading
the day, my female teacher showed up to class after missing some
weeks. However, thankfully our male teacher was also there.
Our male teacher pulled out a bible and began to teach us about
the seven deadly sins, such as gluttony, wrath, envy, etc.
Things took a turn for the worst when my female teacher began
talking about our generation, such as how this generation
accepts those of different sexualities. She went on a tangent on
how those who are homosexual will go to hell and how they aren’t
wanted in heaven. The boy besides me began crying, his face red
while he hid his face in his hands. I gave him a hug and glared
at the teacher, a sudden rage building up inside me as she kept
talking even though she clearly noticed him being distressed.
That’s when my male teacher took over and immediately said he
welcomes us whether straight or not. When our group prayer was
done, the boy left immediately, his face still red and he
clutched his bible and cross necklace. “Why did you keep going?”
I asked the teacher after everyone left. She looked confused
which only made me get more frustrated. “You saw him crying but
you kept talking. We weren’t even discussing sexuality until you
decided to open your mouth. Are you trying to get a rise in me
or are you trying to make him feel belittled?” I asked her while
holding her gaze. Now looking back I did get aggressive, and in
the heat of the moment I did talk back. But I couldn’t let this
go by or else I’ll feel even more guilty.
Even if I was able to practically complain to her, it ended in
some heavy consequences for me. At the time I was accepted into
a program that caused me to miss classes, she was aware but even
then she made sure to suddenly put me on the spot when I could
attend class. “Ariana may you please stand and say the prayer of
the day?” was something I began getting used to hearing. Besides
being told often to say the prayers, she often picked me to
answer a question from our homework. What she didn’t expect was
for me to still study the material given to us even if I barely
attended classes. It reached a point where she was harsher on me
when it came to my stamps. In this class you had to attend
Sunday mass, once the two hours of mass were done with, you
would line up on the left side and wait for a lady to stamp your
prayer paper. The paper itself had the date and the songs of
that day as proof that you attended, but because I never had
time to attend due to other business in my life, I often missed
mass. She grew harsher on me, she would threaten phone calls to
my parents about my misbehavior and about being improper. “Go
ahead, my mom already knows. I tell her what I do in this place
because I have nothing to hide. But you can give her a call now,
here I’ll give you her number and name” I said nonchalantly.
She just left and dismissed me with a shake of her head, so I
sat back down. The thing is, I wasn’t spewing nonsense when I
said I tell my mother everything. I told her everything ,from
when I raised my hand to say I came here by force, to when my
teacher began spewing nonsense about homosexuality. My mother
often compared my bold nature to my father, I couldn’t disagree
more. Overall this experience allowed me to stand up for
something I disagreed with, yet it ended in harsh consequences
as I was mostly put on the spot in class. Do I regret this
experience? No, I actually am glad to have undergone it. Now in
future events where something similar occurs, I will know how to
handle myself with more tranquility rather than aggression.
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