This morning we started out in the movie room and met Maria. She gave us a summary of what her organization (Madres y Familias Deportadas in Acción) does for those who get deported. Maria told us how she has several educational classes that she holds to give the deported individuals working skill sets in order to get a job and make money while waiting on the status of their request for citizenship. We then got into a discussion of the state of the border, answered a few questions regarding how to obtain citizenship, and discussed the many different ways one can enter the country.
Afterwards, we watched a documentary about the different stories of crossing the border and how it was different under the administrations of the past two presidents. We were challenged to connect our discussion to the values of an ethical leader, and after consideration, we believe that both moral courage and imagination are vital in truly understanding the complexity and reality of the issues we discussed. By thinking critically through multiple perspective and opening our views to influence, it allows us to get a better sense of how the issue affects those involved and what we can do to contribute to the solution.
Shortly after, we walked to Balboa Park. We decided to stop at a nearby campus not far off from the park to have lunch. As we indulged in some Italian subs, a man by the name of Robin approached us. We quickly came to the realization that this was no ordinary man but, in fact, an oversharing ex-French military paratrooper that specialized in linguistics and infiltration. He displayed how one would jump out of a plane through yoga exercises and how he could mimic over 50 different accents and at least 4 confirmed languages! He influenced us by giving us some valuable information and sharing his unique perspective on life. His seemingly fun lifestyle clashed with ours when he gave us an idea of what a day in his life looked like. He made us realize that you have to live life to the fullest to really experience its beauty firsthand.
After the park the group headed back to the hostel to discuss Ethical leadership. We talked about various qualities of Ethical Leadership and everybody shared their thoughts and opinions on each.
~Henry, Jeep, and Max