By Michaela

For my Kentucky Kitchen Table project, I had the amazing opportunity to share a delicious pizza with my host family Tyler, Jeanna with her roommates Haley and Molly. I am going to be very honest when I say that I had my reservations when I learned that we would be eating with strangers in their home. I was concerned that I wouldn’t feel welcomed since I didn’t know how much information was exchanged. However, the experienced turned out to be one of the best ones I have ever had.

Upon arrival, I was instantly welcomed with hugs and excitement by Jeanna and my her dog.  The pizza was running a little late so we got the chance to have a causal conversation before beginning out project around the dinner table. Jeanna was actually a recent graduate of Western Kentucky University. She works as a Park Ranger at the National Park and as a worker for an Autism organization. She has a very energetic kind of character and is very interested when it comes to stories shared by others. She likes to describe herself as a compassionate person who loves the outdoors. Haley is also a graduate of Western Kentucky University. She is a part of the campaign for the American Heart Association. She works on the Hoops for Heart campaign that urges elementary children to stay active and is an active fundraiser for the campaign. She has an opposite personality than her roommate Jeanna. She is a little more laid back. She loves golf and is very engaged in her studies.

As the pizza stared to arrive, we talked a little bit about our lives. We discussed where we came from in the parts of Kentucky. Jeanna and Haley had both originated from a rural neighbor in a small town where everyone knew each other. They said the move to Bowling Green was very intimating, because the city was so big. I thought this was pretty funny, because the town I come from, which was Lexington, is a lot bigger than Bowling Green. I was every interesting to see the different perspectives based on where they are raised.  I assumed that Jeanna and Haley would have different perspectives on today’s issues because they were raised in a small, non-diverse community. Instead, I have come to find out that their perspectives on today’s issues correlate to how a view today’s issues.  For example, Jeanna and I both agree that the environment should be the world’s top priority among with diverse equality, though she would put the world’s environmental effects as her number one priority. She has told me that she has seen the devastation of the environment first hand ever since she started working for at the National Park.  She says, “No one really understands the effects of human destruction on the environment, because they don’t see the impacts that come from their constant harmful effects first hand. Hearing about it on the news only makes us think that it is an issue that will fix itself or something that we will have to be worried about later. It’s the laziness and greed of humankind that will ultimately destroy the Earth someday, and its sooner than people think.” I told her we had discussed the devastation of the environment as a wicked problem in class. I told her that we might actually be too late to come up with a fast and effective solution, the only thing we can try to do is make it better”.  Her passion on the topic made me think that if everyone in the world had that kind of passion and heart, that we really could find a solution to the wicked problems of today, not just for the environment, but for other issues such as racial inequality and poverty.

As the conversation progressed to wicked problems, Haley also added her views on these issues, in particular, the racial inequality among the U.S. She made it clear that through she was a republican, she didn’t want to affiliate herself with the republican candidate Donald Trump. “He will singlehandedly destroy the US!” Though she does agree on the immigration problems with Mexico, she doesn’t believe that the problem can be fixed by building a wall. “What ridiculous moron would even suggest that! It’s completely inhuman, and offensive, and cold. How are they going to say ‘no immigrants ALLOWED’ when they are themselves immigrants?” This discussion also connected with the concept of wicked problems. I do agree with her statement, but I can also see how some people would be upset to the fact that there are illegal immigrants taking advantage of the opportunities of America without also sharing the responsibility of an American. We threw around some ideas that could help solve this problem, but some of the solutions had holes in themselves. However, we did conclude the only way to find a true solution is to talk about it. We like to think that it is best to have one person speak and have everyone follow, but then so many other ideas will be shadowed an ignored. We have to learn to sit down and talk to each other. Without talk, there can be no action.

The KKT project was a very stimulating project. It allowed me to discuss today’s issues with people who are different from me. Its process like this where we gather people from different backgrounds to try to come up with solutions to problems that opens our horizon to our own perspectives. It indirectly shortens that gap we like to create between ourselves and others, creating what the world had intended when society came up with the word citizen. Not only are we connected with our society, but the people within it. As soon as we start to realize that, we will be able to handle the wicked problems that arise.  So, to whoever may read this, won’t you sit down and have a pizza with me?