Wednesday, November 12, 2008

Life Changing Events


Barrack Obama depicted the life changing events of the 20th century in the American society by introducing Mary Ann Dixon’s life experiences in his president acceptance speech. She is a 106 years old lady who has lived through the two World Wars, the Great Depression, segregations, the death of J.F.K., Vietnam War, and so on. Obama illustrated her life in order to emphasize that his country and he can change this country and world. They have overcome the darkest times that the world has experienced.
I experienced the two life changing events in the U.S. I was staying in the U.S. during these two periods: One is Hurricane Katrina and the other is this presidential election. Therefore I could observe people’s states of mind and witness their miseries and hopes. I also saw them stand up again and keep going on.
In 2006, I earned my Master’s Degree in Troy University in Alabama. During my second month in the U.S., Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans. I experienced the gigantic hurricane in the fragile school dormitory alone, and it was one of the scariest moments of my life. My family and I had just experienced the collapse of my window shields a year ago back in Korea. I could empathize with the people of New Orleans. I did not know much about the government, but I saw a lot of volunteers who went a long way to the neighbor state. People collected everyday products such as canned foods, clothes, towels, soaps, and so on. Later I watched a documentary “When the Leves Broke,” and learned the government did not react to that disaster very well. On the contrary, the ordinary people were totally different. They acted very promptly and did go off to the ruins and helped with cleaning and reconstruction. I was deeply impressed and found out there is very good volunteering system in this country.
A few days ago I again witnessed another victory of the citizens of this country. I heard that the victory of this election began as a grassroots movement. People had watched the government’s errors and bad policies for years and had endured them. Finally their patience was over, and the rage exploded and erupted. People wanted to refresh the country like they had cleaned the debris from the hurricane in New Orleans. They started to take a giant step and succeeded to change the direction. I really wish that the new government will keep the direction it promised to the people for this country and my country.
A life changing event is a huge social happening that affects and changes people’s minds, philosophy, and lives. I joined two life changing events in the U.S. One was tragic, and the other was glorious. The honorable prospect I felt from these two events was that the subjects are people of the country. The people initiated the restoration and success of the election. The grassroots movement earned great successes in those two events. I really wish I can proudly tell my friends I witnessed these terrific events thirty years from now.

2 comments:

herbal tea said...
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la_mer_bleu said...
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