Famous in Boston?

Yesterday, the Boston Globe published an article referencing me and Danielle's column concerning the 2010 LMU Commencement Speaker choice: http://www.boston.com/news/local/breaking_news/2010/05/choice_of_patri.html

Lion lessons learned for Life

College truly is a microcosm of the real world. You have all different sorts of people who have had all different sorts of life experiences. To really enjoy your time, you must find your people, your niche.

At LMU, some people are able to do that through Greek life, service organizations or even their major. I was fortunate enough to find my place at the Loyolan.

People often pigeonhole diversity. A school is considered diverse if it is racially diverse, or even geographically diverse. What people overlook, however, is the diversity of opinions.

That’s what I value most about the Loyolan staff. People join the newspaper staff for very unique reasons. Whether it is their love of sports, music, writing, etc., you get a combination of people who are truly not brought together by any sort of commonality.

Through unique – and honestly random – groups like these, it is impossible not to get people with a variety of perspectives. And one of the most important things I learned in college was to value people with different opinions than me; as cliché as that may sound, it’s an invaluable thing.

Coming to LMU from Berkeley, Calif. I was sure about one thing: I was leaving one of the most diverse and accepting places in the world. Arriving at school in Southern California, I knew things would be different. In just my first couple of weeks on the bluff, I was aware I wasn’t in the Bay Area anymore, as I heard comments that to me sounded racist, homophobic, sexist, etc. I got on my high horse, thinking to myself that I was a very accepting person because of my life experiences and beliefs and was open to anyone and anything.

But I soon found I thought much too highly of myself. Through discussion with people, I was fortunate enough to meet through the Loyolan, I found myself floored by different opinions, usually political, that I was hearing for the first time in my life. Nonetheless, I was hearing these things from people who I considered some of the most intelligent and knowledgeable people I knew. Being from such a liberal-minded part of the country, never before had I heard people I knew talk about building a wall to keep immigrants out or adamantly believe that gay marriage shouldn’t be legal.

It hit me at once: Berkeley may be racially diverse, religiously diverse and accepting of all kinds of people and family types, but what it is severely lacking is a diversity of beliefs.

From that point on, I made a conscious decision to learn more about beliefs that seemed foreign to me. Whether that included asking people why they felt a certain way about something or attending my first Catholic Mass, I realized there were so many opinions, practices and beliefs I was ignorant of. The problem with that was that it meant I really didn’t know why I held the beliefs I did, and, therefore, I would have a really hard time articulating my views to anyone. Hearing other people’s views helped reaffirm my own.

I want to thank the Loyolan, not only for helping me do that, but also for giving me a place to voice those opinions. I may have written the vast majority of my articles for the sports section, but when things happened in the world that I cared about deeply, like last year’s passing of Proposition 8, the Loyolan gave me an outlet to voice my opinions publicly.

Therefore, I also want to thank everyone who takes the time to read the Loyolan each week, and especially my most loyal readers (namely my parents and grandmother, Grannie Annie). I want to thank my parents for always supporting all of the choices I’ve made, as well as the work I have done. I want to thank Grannie Annie who, after receiving a subscription to the Loyolan for three years, has read every single one of my articles. Hundreds of articles about sports may not be the most thrilling thing for a grandmother to read, but not only did she read them, she also gave me feedback.

My time on the bluff has been life-changing, and it is definitely bittersweet to be graduating. I appreciate everyone who has been a part of this experience, and I personally want to mention Tom and the Loyolan staff, and especially my roommates from Hannon 311. The Bottom Line: This year wouldn’t have been the same without you guys.

And as always, Go Lions.