BrianCaulkins

Brian Caulkins
Psychology 350

March 8, 2009

Reflection for Alternative Spring Break: Day #2

Today was the easy day. We were able to sleep in until noon, which was a relief. The day started out different because daylight savings happened today and I missed the awesome continental breakfast. We started our trip today to the Frist Museum. I did not know what type of museum this was going to be. When we rolled up to the actual museum I was amazed. This museum was huge and had a sculpture out front that was very interesting. We ate lunch in the café at the museum. After we ate all of us explored the museum. The first part that I went to was the “make your own art” section. They had a lot of stuff that made learning about art fun. The one I liked the most was the printing project. The first thing we had to do was drawing the object or design what we wanted to print. After that we traced it out on a piece of cardboard. Then it was time for the printing. They rolled paint on the cardboard and then put it through a press. It turned out very well and I was able to take my amazing masterpiece home.

The next place I visited in the museum was the safe haven section. This was the most interesting section to me. I can remember two that really struck interest to me. A boy named Benjamin wrote the first one I read. The caption with the picture is what interested me the most. It said,

“You think we are homeless,
Because you are blind and can not see,
That a home is where your family is
And we are your family”

This is was the type of judgment change that I had yesterday. In yesterdays reflection I talked about how I was amazed how wrong I was about homeless people. If you have people around you, you are not homeless. I had to read this exert a couple times to realize what it really meant. People without homes are without homes, not homes and family. It changed my perspective about homeless people and helped my studying and volunteer work with them more enjoyable.

The next exert I liked stated that children that are homeless have a hard time maturing to their fullest potential. Being homeless is a negative thing that is very hard on children. If they are dramatized early in their life, it will be hard for them to get over it when they are older and not homeless. These two exerts have sparked a new interest in this type of national dilemma for me. Instead of judging homeless people in a negative way, I start to think about the positive things they have and how I can improve those.

I am excited for tomorrow because we get to work at the Rescue Mission. I hope that I can improve somebody’s life by brightening his or her day.