I was walking down Michigan Avenue and a woman was holding a "homeless" sign with her two little children. Her calloused hands were grasping a cup filled with a scanty assortment of coins. I stopped to talk with her and offered her the number of the shelter I work here in Chicago as part of my Service Opportunities in Leadership internship."Do they take children? I have a son with special needs, too, and a lot of places won't take him," she said as her voice trailed off and her eyes looked down at the ground, expecting the worst.
I smiled at her reassuringly. "Actually, there is a woman at the shelter now with a special needs child. There is a nursery and childcare is provided if you need to go to a class or job interview or anything like that."
"Thank you so much, I am gonna call this number right away. Yeah, we really need a place to stay. Thank you so much," she said as I smiled at her adorable children and begin to walk away.
I knew I shouldn't have walked away. I should have called the shelter right there, and stayed with her until she found a place to sleep that night. I should have offered her and her children a place on our pullout bed or our floor. I should have bought them dinner. I am so tired of leaving poor women and children behind and I know I want to devote my life to fighting poverty.
My SOL internship is only further convincing me that as Duke students we have an obligation to try to make this society better. I think learning is good when we are trying to better understand how to build a more equitable and just society. If we are just at Duke to earn a piece of paper that entitles us to such-and-such wage after taking the requisite number of classes that we didn't even like anyway, then I think "learning" is purposeless.
Part of realizing our responsibility to improve society is that we must make an effort to listen to others. We might know certain theories or have read famous philosophers, but most of us don't know anything about poverty. I grew up in a low-income household, but I was never hungry. I was never homeless. I know that when I speak with homeless women I need to remember that they have a wealth of knowledge I can't even comprehend, and they also have the best idea of what needs to be changed to help prevent homelessness or get the homeless back on their feet.
Duke students are great at participating in community service, but we are pretty clueless when it comes to addressing the roots of social problems. I don't think it's enough that we volunteer every once in a while and feel better about ourselves. I want to hear debates over dinner about how to solve America's health care crisis. I want to overhear discussions about homelessness in this country. Programs such as SOL help to educate Duke students in service and community organizing, but they lack a connection to a greater university commitment to social justice.
Our future career plans need some work as well. I find it disturbing that many Duke students aspire to be investment bankers or corporate lawyers rather than teachers or social workers. We need to help fill the need for well-educated and energetic people in the helping professions. I think more Duke students would choose these kind of professions if they did enough soul-searching and thought about the things that truly make them happy. Do corporate mergers really make you smile, or is it the laughter of a child learning to read? Will intellectual property law make your life meaningful, or will finding someone a place to live?
Part of the reason why many Duke students don't choose these professions is of course, money. I understand this. My mother almost cried when I told her I had thought about being a teacher because she makes eight dollars an hour as a teacher's assistant. But I also know that she loves the kids she works with and she could never make a living from someone else's misfortune. I understand the need to make money but I would argue that three cars and a huge house doesn't make you any happier than an old Volvo and a little place you call home.
This university could even encourage its students to choose careers in social services and nonprofits. Duke could make the helping professions a more viable option for students by forgiving loans for students who dare to choose these less lucrative careers. Just as the School of Law forgives loans for law students who pursue careers with nonprofits, Duke could forgive loans to undergraduates who choose these careers as well. Sometimes this university sells itself merely as the creator of future CEOs and I think Duke is much more than that. Duke should be committed to nurturing the future teachers and community organizers of the world along with its engineers and lawyers. I know many of us will still be investment bankers or bioengineers, and that's fine. If a bridge falls, I want an engineer around to fix it. But we need people to try to fix our social system, too. We need to encourage those who dare to not walk away.
Bridget Newman is a Trinity junior.
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