Bowling Green

KY Kitchen Table

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By Rachel

I hosted my Kentucky Kitchen Table in my hometown of Bowling Green. I was lucky enough to manage to pull together a ragtag dinner group consisting of some distant cousins that I don’t remember being related to, an uncle, my dad, and the lawyer in charge of my grandads estate. Most of these poor souls just wanted to come to my grandparents house for a meeting and to sign some documents but had the misfortune of mentioning dinner and me deciding that my project was way more important than their ability to evacuate. We pulled together an oddly good meal consisting of ribs and chicken that where both of the farm fresh variety (slaughtered and put in a deep freeze till the grandkids forget it had a name) along with homemade cornbread, baked beans, and lemonade as a group (minus Pete who would rather watch football and left the kitchen). We decided to eat at the dining table in the sunroom surrounded by our prickly cacti friends and settled in for a good long meal.

The captives of the evening were my uncle Pete, my dad Paul, distant cousins Taylor, Terrah, and Graham (no that’s not a typo, my last name is Graham and his first name is Graham) and lawyer extraordinaire Tracy. While the group may not look that diverse on the outside we represent a wide demographic of ages, backgrounds, and belief systems. Pete who has lived a rough life and at 40 looks closer to 65 never went to college and now has seizures so he can no longer work on power lines like he used to so he’s been forced into retirement. My dad went to Western and then vet school and is now a veterinarian/farmer/archery coach. Taylor went to Louisville for college and now has a full time job there where she coordinates fundraisers. Graham was a professional archer from 18-23 but lost most his most of his vision in his dominant eye in a gun explosion and is now a welder. Terrah is a nurse and extremely religious (to the point she sent me a bible in the mail less than a week after this dinner/first meeting). Last but not least Tracy who has a law degree but decides to use it to do everything a lawyer does minus going into an actual courtroom and has 2 jack russell terriers that get stuck in groundhog holes.

As I started off the discussion I attempted to make it clear that this project is about insightful discussion and not starting brawls at the dinner table and thankfully everyone seemed to grasp the concept except for Pete who immediately started laughing about “those butthurt liberals” and immediately killed most of my hope for this to end with no hurt feeling and open minds. Once Pete got it together we started in on what citizenship means to each of us and we unsurprisingly ended up split up in our beliefs by age group with Taylor and I speaking more about being a part of a society who accepts you, Terrah and Graham talking more on their freedoms and their rights and how you are a citizen when your country let’s you be your own person while still protecting protects you and providing guidance almost like a parent would do, and Pete, Paul, and Tracy made their beliefs known that citizenship to them means feeling safe, loving your country and being willing to do anything in its name because it is your home. Luckily we all agreed on something, some people in the group brought up that no matter the background of a person, if they truly feel like an American and are only here with good intentions that they should be treated like citizens and not outcasts at least by the public. I was truly surprised that Pete agreed and I feel that he probably likes the idea of a utopian society but wouldn’t truly practice this due to the fact that I’ve heard one too many jokes about muslims come out of his mouth over the years but I guess he gets the benefit of the doubt for now.

After this I directed the conversation towards what kind of person everyone wants to be and what they do to try to become this ideal. All of the men ended up described their ideal way of being as being caring, friendly, useful people, and being able to protect their loved ones which reminded me of the paper we read on younger people not being able to really discuss morals because they were never taught any. This situation was kind of reversed from the article where I felt like the men weren’t taught how to truly express themselves but had words put in their mouths to spew out whenever they are told to. The guys had this preconceived notion of what a real man is from hearing it their whole lives and it was honestly disappointing to get such a generic answer. I do however feel that if any one of my younger male friends had been there he would have felt much more comfortable opening up. The ladies of the group however were not afraid to speak their minds and get into specifics. They brought to the table a collective desire to be able to give more of their time to their families and spend less time caught up in themselves. Terrah brought up her desire to be able to be there for everyone and that if anyone of her friends from church or otherwise ever needed anything at all that she could be there in a split second to do anything for them because not enough people take the time to care about others.

This lead into a discussion of religion and Terrah’s various mission trips. Out of all of us I was the only person who wasn’t a practicing christian which lead to a few overzealous minutes of preaching by Terrah but eventually managed to get turned back around to the relative zone of living better together. Everyone agreed that religion is a moral code and that not practicing one doesn’t make someone a bad person, it just means that they have to make their own limits and define good and bad for themselves. Graham brought up that community service is one of the best things a church does as it allows people to actually get together and make a difference and due to the sense of community and obligation to their group people tend to make more of an effort to help. Terrah brought up that the last 2 mission trips her church planned kept getting put off due to the snare of preparation and ended up happening 5 months after the originally scheduled dates. She shared that she;s not going on another trip as she believes they accomplished nothing because they brought shoes, toys, and toothpaste to an area that had way more pressing issues such as disease and how to get water than worrying about brushing their teeth. Taylor also brought up that on a mission trip that she went on where the kids got toothpaste that was mint flavored that the kids would end up eating the toothpaste like it’s candy and get ill because they had never seen it before. The article to hell with good intentions really hit home here and made me realize that the human race is basically just wandering around with its hands over its eyes convinced it is a gift from god bestowing greatness wherever it may go refusing to look at the reality that it’s poisoning everything it touches. After this the discussion took a quick turn to the official reason for everyone’s visit to Bowling Green and the discussion was promptly left at the table.

This project was surprisingly more comfortable than I had originally expected especially considering that half my group where stranger to me. After doing this project I have to believe that most people are inherently good and have good intentions but don’t necessarily know how to properly execute them. Since I know Pete as usually being very brash and his relatively cooperative and accepting attitude I must imagine that being taken out of your comfort zone and the preconceived notions of those closest to you gives you time to reflect and process what your beliefs as an individual are without the hive mind. This has also helped me realize how different we can be on the surface but the our souls share a like mind of love and acceptance.

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Where Love Resides

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By Brent

My Kentucky Kitchen Table project provided me a way to feel more connected to Bowling Green and get closer to a few of my peers, as well as fellow citizens. For our project, Hillary, Rachel, and I went over to Jennifer’s house for dinner. I also brought a friend, named Tan, who is from Vietnam and is studying at WKU. Our conversation lasted for about three hours and felt unexpectedly natural. No conversation topic felt like it was off limits. 
My partners for this project were phenomenal. When you first meet Hillary, you know that above all, she cares. She cares about how you are and what you believe in. She is naturally inquisitive and passionate. Her love for art and beauty is apparent in the way she lives and it rubs off on the people that she meets. Rachel, an English literature major, has a way with words and her humor is not only witty, but it is insightful as well. She tells a story of love and she preaches equality by her actions. Jennifer is a compassionate soul who lives intentionally and spends her time doing what she loves, which is pouring into the lives of immigrants and Refugees in the greater Bowling Green area. She is a mother, a wife, and a devoted member of society. She asks deep questions and listens with intention. She loves others with few bounds and is an inspiration to many. Tan is an inquisitive and passionate man. His self-prescribed nickname, “Crazy,” fits him well only because he is willing to take big risks and is able to overcome his fears very quickly. Tan has enjoyed the United States very much and hopes to get a business degree in order to start his own business when he returns to Vietnam.  
Our conversation went down many different paths. We began by answering what we thought it meant to be a citizen. Generally, we all agreed that being a good citizen means being involved with as many different types of people and groups as possible. As citizens, it is our job not to run away when things get hard. We are supposed to join together and use our voice to support our beliefs and lift other people up. I really liked Jennifer’s perspective on her life as a citizen because she focused on ways that she sees herself training her two boys on how to be good people and citizens. She also mentioned that being around like-minded people can be a good place to brainstorm, but, in the end, it is better to put yourself out into the world in order to gain a bigger perspective on what it means to live well with others.  
We also talked about the role that loving people plays in being a bigger part of society. We mentioned many simple acts, like being kind to a cashier or being patient at the DMV that go a long way. We all tell a story with the way we live our lives and it is important that that story builds other people up and recognizes everyone’s humanity. We decided that it is important to be humble and recognize that we will never know anyone’s full story. For example, we don’t know what it is like to be born into a country that has been in civil war for over eighty years. We don’t understand the hate that many immigrants and refugees face. So, rather than letting those differences scare us, it is important to face them fiercely and fight for equity.  
I learned a lot from our conversation, but I would say that my biggest takeaway was that it is important for me to meet people who are starkly different from me and be in community with them. I have so much to learn from other people, and I will never be done learning. We talked a lot about how having a face to put to an issue can be powerful for a lot of people. For example, if you have a friend that is a refugee or immigrant, you will naturally want to support laws and legislation that will protect their rights. I also think that I have a responsibility to make sure that more people reach out into the community to make those sorts of personal connection with people who are different from them.  
I also learned from Tan as I watched him interact with the difficult and theoretical conversations we were having. While he didn’t understand all of what we were saying, or why we were saying it, he knew it meant a lot to us and he respected that very much. I was humbled by his willingness to want to learn about other cultures and hear about how people see things like the recent election or holidays. I learned from him that listening is a gift and taking a risk in order connect with people is always worth it, at least for the experience.  
I think that our dinner and this project relate to our class in a few ways. Primarily, I saw that most of our conversation had to do with the idea of a crossing a bridge. We talked about how things are and where we want them to be, but most importantly, ways we thought we could get there. For example, we talked about how communities often respond to tragedy by throwing money and resources at a given problem. This raises issues because it leaves people disconnected and removed from the deeper causes that might be contributing the problems. We decided we wanted communities to be more involved so that when something happens, people know the needs of the victims they are helping and have an idea what their life is like prior to whatever incident might take place. Additionally, we mentioned that people have to become more connected with others who are different from them, spend time in the community, and break down stereotypes. This seems like a lot to ask, but it has to happen for us to be able to move forward as a society. I think that another way our conversation connected to the course was that we talked about how the power of patience is necessary to solve all of the issues we wanted to tackle. It was evident that Jennifer is an extremely patient person and her loves shine through in that way. She will wait on the phone for translators and lawyers to make sure that her friends, many of whom are refugees, aren’t getting taken advantage of and are getting the care and support they deserve. Even during out meal, she was checking up on a friend who was in the hospital for having an appendix removed. I think that, through her, I see how being patient is an act of love, and love makes us the best citizens that we can be. Overall, the experience allowed me to understand the importance of talking about change with people in the community because it made me feel like I had more people on my team and are willing to fight alongside me for what we believe is right.thumbnail_img_2104

A Lesson on Engagement, Connection, and Planning

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By Rachael

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Disclaimer: we almost forgot to take a photo, so there was much more food prior to consumption and clean-up. But the modeling of the pie and fruit by Brent and Tan is much better than the table full of food would’ve been anyway.

So because I am from Bowling Green, I originally planned to do my Kentucky Kitchen Table here with family and a few friends or distant relatives for diversity sake. However, that plan went awry. I won’t bore you with all the details (because they are boring and quite anticlimactic), but I ended up rather late in the game without a table. Luckily for me, I’ve met some really wonderful people in this class (looking at you Hilarie and Brent), and they kindly let me crash their dinner. And even though it was very last minute and totally not my plan, as is often the case, the spontaneity and the detour made it all the better.

I’ll get to all that good stuff in a moment, but first, an introduction. As implied by the term “crash,” I did not go in knowing who all would be attending this little soiree. (Just kidding, I looked up that word so I could see how to spell it, and it’s defined as a “fancy evening affair”; our evening was neither fancy nor grand enough to be called an “affair,” but nevertheless.) I obviously knew Hilarie and Brent from class: Hilarie from connecting outside of class because of overlapping friends and common interests and Brent from the social issue paper.

However, there was a lot that I didn’t know about them. For starters, Hilarie is a double major and a double minor. Who knew? And also, how impressive is that? Goodness. Hilarie is not much of a pie person; I know this because I brought an apple and a fudge pie (courtesy our great local bakery Riley’s Bakery). Luckily, she does enjoy ice cream (courtesy of our great local ice cream shop, hangout, and farm Chaney’s Dairy Barn), which made me feel better about my experience earlier in the day when I walked out of the shop, alone, with loads of sweets. (Cute.) Other than the pie thing, Hilarie is a girl much after my own heart—a singer, a social justice discusser, a feminist, and a constant thinker—and has so many talents and assets, not the least of which is her incredible brain and the thoughts that come from it. I so enjoyed getting to hear more of her ideas that night. She is also very gifted in choosing (and applying) excellent, bold shades of lipstick and rocking reddish, purpleish, silverish hair like no one else I’ve seen. She is also a great balance to my proclivity for sweets; she provided our table with homemade organic turkey sandwiches and a veggie tray. Hilarie is a small-town girl (Middlesboro, Kentucky being that exact small town) with pride and purpose because of her roots. If I could pick a few people who I’d like to mold myself after to be when I grow up, Hilarie would be one of those people.

Next is Brent. Brent has ferociously curly hair, which he just cut much shorter right before our dinner! (It looks very nice, Brent; don’t feel sad.) Brent is a Nursing major, something I had either known and forgotten or had never known at all; either way, I am fascinated and extremely impressed. He aspires to one day be part of Doctors Without Borders—color me more impressed. Brent also deeply enjoys chocolate pie, which is why we had fudge pie…also just because fudge pie is delicious. Brent and I have a very fun friendship, in which he makes jokes that I don’t get until later and irks me by “playing” sexist. Hilarious. In return, I like to step on his masculinity by constantly asserting myself in the conversation, laugh too hard at my own jokes, and tell him that no, he could not be on SNL. (Sorry, buddy.) Brent is from Nashville, Tennessee and spent this past summer in Taiwan—another surprise! He is a talented thinker, compassionate human, and I enjoyed hearing his insights and learning more about him at dinner. If I could pick a few people to model my hair after, Brent would be one of those people.

Brent brought along his friend Tan, who is an international student from Vietnam. He is 22 years old, has gorgeous, thick, jet-black hair, and you pronounce his name “Tahn.” He speaks extremely good English (a million times better than my Vietnamese would be, goodness); he is an interesting person outside of how well he speaks (I will get to this momentarily), but I just think it’s really impressive and something we take for granted, as most of us never have to/want to really learn another language. Tan is currently working on his English so that he can pursue a degree in Business. He originally wanted to be a Math teacher because he really enjoys the subject, but he has since changed his mind and decided he wants to pursue business, which, coincidentally, is what both of his parents do. He said he would still like to be able to teach at some point but for the moment is really interested in learning business, working for a company, and eventually starting his own business.

Tan is a pretty quiet guy, or at least was this evening; I suppose it’s a little silly of me to assume one night is the epitome of what a person is. (From some of the nights I’ve had, I would really hope that’s not the case.) Tan was really interested in the number of holidays here and the ways in which we celebrate them. He asked a lot of questions about Thanksgiving and told us that in his country they really only celebrate New Year and even that is different because it’s celebrated in February. I asked him what his parents thought of him coming over here and he said they were very worried about him changing a lot or being corrupted somehow, but that they spoke every day—despite the 11 hour time difference. Tan’s curiosity, bright smile, and eagerness to learn are infectious, and his presence was a real asset at the table.

And finally, there was Jen. Jen was our host for the evening who provided the cozy environment and necessary kitchen table. Jen is a social justice warrior who would never call herself that. Jen works and fights for people. Period. She works very closely with the refugees in Bowling Green in numerous capacities. One of my favorite moments of the evening was Jen talking about “doing good” without doing it for praise or even “because it’s the right thing to do”; for her “doing good” is just basic humanity and shouldn’t have any further thought; it should just be inherent. And I really loved this concept of thoughtful actions done thoughtlessly. I’d never framed it that way, and it was something really special.

Jen was born just outside of Philly and has lived many places, including Texas where one of her boys was born, much to her chagrin. Jen is married to a Political Science professor at WKU, and they have two children—one of whom is in Gatton Academy here. Jen was also a Political Science major in college but has pursued many different careers throughout her 40 some-odd-long life. She is currently working for Pearson as a writer and editor—something very much after my own heart. Jen is an incredibly intelligent, kind without agenda, and insightful beyond what a three-hour long dinner conversation could fully display.

As I am typing this out, I realize I am over 1100 words in and just finishing my “introduction.” And I am chuckling to myself at a couple of things. One, it’s hilarious how much I can pour into something when I’m not even trying to. And two, in direct relation to one, I didn’t even have to think about all the stuff I’ve written. I just remembered it. I have roughly an hour and a half of recordings from that night (I didn’t record our whole conversation because we would shuffle to get tea or something), but I have yet to refer to them once. I’m amazed and stunned at what I can remember when I’m actually listening, when I create an intention behind my listening, when my listening has motivation. This is also sad, obviously, that a looming grade is what has to pressure me to actively engage. And not even engage in conversation by speaking myself but simply by engaging my listening. There’s such a difference there: between being present for a conversation and being actively engaged in it; neither of those options require you to speak, but the first you could so easily not actually be present or engaged.

And I think, because of all this self-revelation I’m having in the moment, that that’s one of my biggest take-aways from this experience: just what it means to listen and to engage. I thought I was good at that already, but seeing how much I can pour out now simply because I was a willing, engaged vessel then shows me that there’s so much I miss. Maybe I already knew that Hilarie had two majors and two minors. Maybe I already knew that Brent was a Nursing major. Maybe I didn’t know either of those things. And that’s not my point. I’m just sort of here typing this, looking somewhat deranged I’m sure, nodding to myself and marveling at how much I would’ve missed if I hadn’t been actively involved that night—if I’d been on my phone or hyper-aware of the time or just unfocused. And what I’m realizing right now is just how powerful that engagement, that listening, is—in all situations. Think of how much smoother and more intelligently our political debates (among politicians and among ourselves) would go! Think of how much harder it would be to dismiss, dislike, or even hate people if we listened first—if we were actively engaged in hearing others. What would that look like?

This is something we even talked about a lot during our time together, but it’s just so moving right now as I sit here and reflect on how much I know about these strangers and semi-acquaintances, on how connected to them I feel now. What if that kind of connection could extend to all people? To the refugees who Jen works so closely with? To the homeless person on the corner? To the girl who sits next to you in class? What if we defaulted to connection, humanity, and engagement? What would our world look like?

And I really thought I would go into all the political conversation and the stories about the refugees Jen told us and how we each described what citizenship means to us, but I’m realizing that like my first plan for this project, that plan for this post needs to change. Because yes, we did have very cool, like-minded conversation about politics in America and the beauty in telling stories and how we all knew this was like-minded political conversation and that the real conversation and engagement needed to happen with people outside of this table and mindset. We had three hours of really cool, smart story swapping and idea sharing. But it was the actual engagement—the sitting down at the kitchen table, totally disarmed, drinking tea, just chatting, and listening—that was the most powerful and important for me. And that’s what is going to make this experience one of my, unexpectedly, best nights of the semester and moments of this course. (Cheesy, cheesy, cheesy, but genuine.)

So, all that said, I’ll just wrap up with some “thank you’s.” Thank you to the darling Hilarie and Brent. Thank you for letting me crash your evening. Thank you for being open and sharing your passions. Thank you, Tan, for coming to a random event and for sharing your experience with us. Thank you for coming to WKU and for being brave enough to take on our crazy, scary, awesome America all by yourself. Thank you, Jen, for being so gracious and for being such a warrior for people—because it should be our default setting to help, and it should be something done without fanfare. And thank you, Dr. Gish, for making this experience happen by assigning this project. I am a vocal and open but quite introverted person and would never have done this had it not been for this assignment. And I’m so glad I got to! So yeah, thank you to everyone for just giving me a chance to engage and remember what it’s like to be at peace in the midst of spontaneity. Thank you all for reminding me that fresh plans are often so much better than “planned” plans. (So much cheese.) (So much sincerity.)

Blue Dog Democrats and Microfiches: My Kentucky Kitchen Table Project

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By Erik

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This fall, I had the pleasure of hosting my Kentucky Kitchen Table in my own dining room.  Since I have lived in Bowling Green, Kentucky my whole life, it was a convenient ten-minute drive from campus for me and John Mark, the cohost of the project.  Around the table (from left to right) was John Mark, a junior in the Honors College at WKU who is majoring in creative writing; DeAnn, John Mark’s mother, a very sweet woman who works as a physical therapist and is from Roanoke, Virginia; Rick R., my father, who works as a cognitive behavioral therapist, is infamous for his cheesy “dad jokes,” and is from Minnesota; Rick T., an accountant, history buff, and talker of all things politics who is from Carroll county and had lived in Franklin, Kentucky for many years; Kathy, my mother, who works as a marriage and family therapist, has the kindest of hearts, and is from Tennessee; and myself, a freshman in the Honors College at WKU who is majoring in chemistry and biology.

As the night began, we all gathered around the table and each enjoyed a big bowl of chili or two, making a few brief comments about my dogs who were loudly pleading for liberation from the bedroom in which they were locked in for the night.  Since the 2016 presidential election was earlier in the week, I knew political talk was inevitable, but I was excited to hear the various opinions that our guests had brought to the table, nevertheless.

Like most Kentucky Kitchen Table projects, we started out by discussing what it truly means to be a citizen, apart from voting and paying taxes.  The common response to this question was along the lines of how you should offer help to those who are in need, and how you should respectfully voice your opinions to the community when the opportunities arise.  In other words, you should be open to serving the community in hopes of making it a better place to live.  Connecting these ideas to the class, I presented the idea of how Thomas Jefferson highly valued town meetings because it was the healthiest way that the community could discuss societal issues.  After we explored many different answers, Rick T. posed his own question in response:  where has civility gone in today’s society?  His explanation to the question was composed of his experiences throughout his life, telling us about his noticing of society beginning to shift toward a lack of respect for one another’s opinions.  John Mark followed by talking about how people’s ideas are so polarized from each other, which oftentimes leads to people arguing with a closed mind, thus neglecting the idea of seeking a common ground to settle upon.

Switching the mood of the conversation, I asked those around the table what they thought some of the best things in today’s society were.  Those who were quick to answer listed off things such as technology, medicine, education, transportation, and the growth of capitalism and freedom.  DeAnn, reminiscing about old technology, asked me and John Mark if we happened to know about microfiches.   As we shook our heads no, DeAnn and Rick T. both took the opportunity to explain to us how troublesome it used to be to have to use a microfiche to research information for a school paper since all of your work had to be done at the library.  In contrast, the point was made about how our generation is fortunate enough to live in the age of technology, and how we are always roughly five clicks away from finding the answer to a myriad of questions online.  Being the philosopher that Rick T. is, he once again smoothly made his way into the conversation and posed another great question:  is the convenience of technology always a good thing?  We made the conclusion that in moderation, it is a good thing.  Rick R. talked about how thousands of years ago, people relied on each other for both safety and social interaction, and in contrast, people now just hunker down in the comfort of their home because technology and social media provides people with a sense of social connectedness.  This is one of the largest reasons that keeps us from getting to know our neighbors, and many of us are guilty of it.

Finally, with the election fresh on our minds, I posed the question, “what is some advice that you would give to the president-elect?”  A mutual agreement amongst everyone at the table was that the best piece of advice to is to tell him that the government is an institution, not a person.  This piece of advice would be good to tell the president-elect so that he may humble himself, and it is also a good piece of advice for those who are troubled by the thought of Mr. Trump in office.  Rick T. took this opportunity to access the perpetual history vault in his noggin to compare this situation to one seen earlier in American history: Ronald Reagan’s presidency.  Rick T. explained how Reagan was viewed as unfit for the presidency because he was a “stupid actor,” but went on to hold his own because of the smart individuals that he surrounded himself with in office – something that I think most of us hope Mr. Trump will do.  Also, one of the biggest revelations that occurred at the table was when Rick T. stated that he was a Blue Dog Democrat.  As a look of confusion emerged from many of our faces, Rick T. quickly explained that it was a term used for democrats who hold conservative views on many issues.  After Rick T. dropped this bomb on us, I personally began to question my stances on political issues and sift through the views that I can consider bipartisan.  As for DeAnn, she learned that her political views best matched up with Rick T.’s, considering herself a newly-found Blue Dog Democrat.

In closing, I came into this project expecting the night to be short, boring, and full of expected answers; however, I was shocked at how insightful and enjoyable the night turned out to be.  I am very thankful that I was required to complete this project, and I would absolutely do it again.  From the time I asked the first question of the night, to the time we cleaned up the dining room table, two, almost three hours had sped by.  Never in my life had I perceived the saying, “everyone has something to bring to the table,” as being so accurate.  If you ever have the chance to organize your own Kentucky Kitchen Table, I highly encourage you to, for you may walk away from the night with a different perspective on society, or maybe even discover that you are a Blue Dog Democrat, who knows…

My Kentucky Kitchen Table Experience

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By Tyler

I never really thought that I’d find myself at a stranger’s house for dinner, nor did it sound very appealing, but 10/10 would recommend. I’m more of an introvert and having conversations with people I don’t know makes me nervous. So I’m glad I was kind of forced to break out of my shell because I would never have done this on my own.

Kaylin, Amy, and I began our little journey using Google Maps to try and find where we were supposed to go. After a few wrong turns we finally made it only to realize there were two doors and we had no idea which to go in. After circling the house, we finally decided on a door because we could see people cooking through the window. When we walked in we were greeted by Alison’s dog, Hazel, and then Alison and Leila. Alison, our host, teaches in the English department at WKU. Leila was a guest also eating with us who teaches Citizen and Self at WKU. I guess I should also give a brief description about me and my classmates. I’m from a small town in Kentucky, Kaylin is from an even smaller town in Kentucky, and Amy grew up in a bigger town in Tennessee that neighbored an army base.

After introducing ourselves, Alison put us to work right away chopping vegetables and setting the table. I’m glad she gave us something to do to make the meal seem more like a team effort. We made small talk while doing so and once everything was ready, we took our plates and sat down to eat. I was starving and was super glad that we were having chicken tacos instead of some weird vegetarian food that Kaylin, Amy and I had joked about on our way there. We first talked about our majors and different little things about ourselves. Then Alison really got my attention when she told us about her college experience. She had originally gone to college with the goal of becoming a lawyer but then she got a random opportunity to go teach English in Japan. Since she had never gotten to study abroad, she took up this opportunity and ended up falling in love with it. She stayed for two years in Japan and went on to teach other countries as well. She dropped the idea of becoming a lawyer and became a teacher instead. Her advice to us was just try everything and jump at the random opportunities. This made me think of the Jane Addams reading for our class “Snare of Preparation.” We have to just throw ourselves into the world and not really think about it. We just have to actually do it.

As we were eating, Leila and Alison were guessing spices that were in each other’s dish. They both seemed to really like to cook and it wasn’t your normal everyday country cookin’. They knew a lot about different ethnic foods and seemed to have tried it all. Alison says she learned a lot of it from her experience in Japan. They gave us some suggestions for the best places to get sushi and told us to visit the salt cave in Bowling Green if we ever needed to clear up our sinuses.

We then decided we should probably ask the question of the day, “What does citizenship mean to you?” Leila laughed a little saying that she should have a good answer to it since she teaches the class and then Alison said that she thinks it means recognizing that everyone is dealing with something. I immediately started to wonder if she had sat in on one of our classes because those exact words have come up many times in our discussions about empathy and how to live better together. I was not expecting her to say something so dead on to what we have been discussing all semester. Honestly, I was expecting Leila to say something about it since she teaches the class, but she just agreed with Alison and added that we should always think about why a person is acting the way they are, maybe they’ve had a bad day, or maybe they weren’t brought up the same way we were. We had a small discussion about citizenship, much like ours in class, about putting ourselves in another person’s shoes.

We then got on the topic of dress codes at our high schools. We talked about how Amy and I had teachers that would sit at the door as we walked in to look at how we were dressed and make sure it was appropriate. We mentioned how guys were allowed to wear shorter clothes than us and then Leila made a comment about imagining if all of this time was spent teaching men about consent instead. This conversation eventually led into the talk about feminism. Amy mentioned how surprised she was by how few people stepped forward when asked if they were a feminist in the game we played in class. I have to be honest, I didn’t step forward in class because I thought that it meant that I got super offended when guys made jokes about women or got mad if a guy held a door open for me or something. I didn’t know that it actually just meant that you believe women should be equal to men. Someone mentioned that people just don’t know how to express themselves and Kaylin went on to tell a story about her boyfriend’s mom talking about how she didn’t believe in interracial marriage but eventually went on to say that she just didn’t want it for herself but she didn’t look down upon others who do it. Sometimes when people say things, they don’t actually mean what it sounds like. Sometimes things are definitely worth deliberating on.

We moved onto dessert, which consisted of cookies, Nutella, and goat caramel. After Alison said it tasted “goaty” I decided I would pass on that part of the dessert. However, everyone else seemed to really enjoy it. Alison offered us tea with rice in it and I decided that I should probably pass on that as well. As you can tell, I’m not very adventurous with the foods that I try. We wrapped up our conversations and said our goodbyes. Instead of the dreaded dinner that I had imagined, it ended up being my favorite part of this class. It’s not too often that you actually sit down at a dinner table and have a home-cooked meal filled with meaningful conversations, especially in college.

My Kentucky Kitchen Table

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By Katie

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The lovely people seated at the table are a few of my great friends and some of their friends. We are religiously similar but culturally, politically, and geographically diverse. Starting at the bottom, there is Savannah, she is my spunky friend who does not really care about political conversations, which was interesting to have her there and hear her input. To her left is Mary Margaret, she is blunt yet loving. Then there is me. To my left is Lee, he is also very blunt and conservative and an all around goofball. To his left is Nick, Nick is also conservative but mostly keeps to himself. The girl next to him is Ellie, she did not eat with us but wanted to join the picture. The male in the back is Jonathan, he is currently in training to be in the US Army. Next to him is Spencer, a firefighter. Then the male with the glasses is Connor, he is shy but speaks up when he finds something important. He came with Jonathan to our dinner. The male in the red sweatshirt is Ty. He is also very conservative and follows conservative beliefs when it comes to politics. Harrison is the last person in the bottom right corner with the grey and red Patagonia pullover. He is very opinionated and not very open minded when it comes to political topics.

At this dinner we discussed many different topics including sports, religion, the presidential election, what it means to be a citizen, our jobs and their purposes, our ideal futures, the status of our world today, and many other topics that could be considered irrelevant to this topic.

When I asked my friends what citizenship meant to them beyond voting and taxes, one of them said “Citizenship gives you a sense of belonging to something bigger than yourself. It gives you the rights and responsibilities that come with living in the greatest democracy in the world. It gives you the ability to be and do anything you want to do.” Just from reading that, one could gather that my friends are proud to be Americans. We also discussed the privileges American citizens have that other countries such as China do not have, especially privacy. We deliberated for a couple of minutes about the privacy in America. Although our government does not listen to what we say on the streets out in public through bugging traffic lights and things on the street, our government can view our computers and that was disturbing to us. Some brought up the notion that the government filters our technology to keep us safe from potential terrorists and people that can harm us.

The presidential election was also a hot topic at our dinner. A great number of people at the table sided with Trump on a few of his issues, especially with abortion. However, some of the girls were frightened by the idea of not being able to have control over their own bodies, but were conflicted with the idea of abortion because of their religious views on the right of life and who should be in control of such things. The boys brought up how Hillary was guilty and should be held accountable for the Benghazi deaths and that she cannot be trusted with our lives.

Since the major thing we all have in common is religion we also discussed how we should treat others based on our religious views. One of the main points brought up is that the changes in society are making Christians look hateful and ignorant. This really bothered us. We discussed homosexuality and the House Bill 2 in North Carolina. Since we are Christians, the Bible tells us to love one another and treat each other with respect, grace, and kindness. It also says that homosexuality is a sin and is wrong. Someone at the table said that if we (the government) condones people to use the bathrooms that they most identify with, it would almost be promoting homosexuality, bisexuality, etcetera. It is conflicting because we are called to love and not judge, but it is confusing on who is to draw the line because none of us here on earth are God, the ultimate judge.

We also discussed our experiences growing up in different families with different lifestyles. When I asked about family meals and eating at home, this is what one of my friends said, “I had meals with my family growing up but it wasn’t every night because we had really busy schedules. I really liked it and it made time together special.” One of my friends is a dancer and an athlete with three other siblings. She said her family rarely gets to eat dinner at home around their table and that their dinners mostly consist of drive through meals on the weekdays. Another friend of mine was only involved in the marching band at his school and ate dinner at home with his family almost every night. He enjoys the time spent together and the conversations but also wishes that his family would go out more often.

Being young adults, we of course discussed our jobs and the purpose behind them. One of my female friends that works in an office said this, “I see my job as serving a higher purpose. When I go to work I am earning money that is not just for myself. My money goes to support businesses, charities, and to support myself and my future family.” On the other hand, one of my friends has a rather wealthy family and has not had to work a steady part-time job other than working at a dress shop once a week. Since she has most of her needs taken care of by her parents, she does not feel the need to work. Unlike her, one of my male friends that is also wealthy has a strong work drive and works for things he wants and is already saving for his future. He plans to work in real estate, so he works for his father who is a real estate agent and builder, and for other builders in the community so he can get career related experience.

Another topic discussed was our plans for the future and future home life. Some of us want to live in neighborhoods where our children can play with their friends in the neighborhood while some of my friends want to live out in the middle of nowhere, where no one can bother them. I asked if any of them know or knew their neighbors growing up and one of my friends responded with this, “I also don’t really know my neighbors. I know their names and say hi to them when I see them, but we’ve lived by them my whole life but never really gotten to know them. I think it’s because life is so hectic and I don’t live in a neighborhood with a community atmosphere. And my neighbor may or may not deal drugs, that is also a factor.”

Through this assignment, I learned a lot about my friends that I would not have learned otherwise. I was somewhat concerned with how some of them are so closed minded when it comes to political issues and ways to deal with issues in our democracy. Our discussion at our meal related to the three questions of the class: How do we live together? How do we solve problems? How can people have more say over what their lives look like? Over all of those three questions, the one discussed the most was how we live together.

I think this assignment was very unique and interesting. I got to meet people and also meet my friends I already had on a deeper level. We discussed many things that would not usually be discussed in a normal gathering. Some of the topics made people feel uncomfortable, but it was good because people were able to form opinions and learn how to express themselves.

Debating with class

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By Kaitlyn

Brooke and I held our Kentucky Kitchen Table project at a house here in Bowling Green, Kentucky. A sorority sister of Brooke’s opened her home to us and her mother agreed as long as everyone supplied a dish for the meal. I contributed by making the macaroni and cheese that can be seen to the right of the picture. Brooke made the shredded steak and banana pepper mix. Three of my sorority sisters (Alpha Omicron Pi’s) brought a vegetable and cheese plate and three of Brooke’s sorority sisters (Kappa Delta’s) brought rolls and cheese slices. The mother of the home also chipped in by making pumpkin cheesecake brownies that we were able to enjoy after dinner. You can see all of the food and most of the people in the photos below (the brownies were still baking).

Brooke and I both (as noted above) had invited three women from each of our sororities to the dinner. Along with our sorority sisters, the mom of the house and her youngest daughter were in accompaniment as well, Kelli and Allison. Kelli is the mom of Brooke’s sorority sister, Caroline. She is a middle-aged woman and is a pharmacist here in Bowling Green. Kelli is an alumna of WKU. Through speaking with Kelli we learned that she is a Christian woman and doesn’t claim a particular denomination. Kelli is a registered Democrat and grew up in Harlan County. In further discussion about Harlan, we learned that it’s a poor area in Eastern Kentucky and growing up in this area she was from a family with little means. Kelli was a first generation college student. Kelli’s youngest daughter Allison is currently a junior in High School. She has grown up in a middle class family in Bowling Green, Kentucky. We questioned Allison about her political views, but she is too young to register and hasn’t quite made up her mind yet on which political party she sides more with. When discussing her faith, she explained that she is still discovering her faith and wishes to explore different denominations once she comes to college. Allison is undecided on what major she will choose when coming to college and has yet to decide where she would like to attend. Having a younger perspective, especially one from a very unbiased party was a nice addition to the conversation and at times helped us all see the issues we were discussing from a, sort of, birds eye view.

The three sorority women I invited were a few of my sorority sisters that Brooke hadn’t met before, Brittany, Sarah, and Haleigh. Brittany is a senior here at WKU and is from Versailles, Kentucky and is majoring in social work. Brittany says that she would describe her socioeconomic status as upper class. When asked she said that she identifies with the Republican Party and is Southern Baptist.

Sarah is a junior at WKU and is from Franklin, Kentucky. Sarah is majoring in elementary education and describes her socioeconomic status as lower-middle class. She identifies as a member of the Democratic Party and is a nondenominational Christian.

Haleigh is a senior at WKU and is from Glasgow, Kentucky. Haleigh states that her family is upper class. Haleigh is in the process of applying to law schools. She identifies with the Republican Party and is a member of the Church of Christ.

Brooke’s guests were some of her sorority sisters that I had never met before, the Kelli’s oldest daughter, Caroline, along with Christa, and Madison. Caroline is a junior at WKU. Caroline is working on a double major in biology and psychology with a pre-physician’s assistant concentration. Caroline is a member of the Honors college here at WKU. When asked, Caroline explained that she identifies as having independent political beliefs. She said that she has liberal social beliefs, but conservative beliefs regarding government policies. She grew up in the same family as Allison, a middle class family in Bowling Green, Kentucky. Caroline identifies as a Christian and seems to fit in best with the Presbyterian denomination.

Christa is a freshman and is also in the Honors college at WKU. Christa is working on a major in biology and is from Louisville, Kentucky. When asked Christa describes her family as upper class and says she is a devout Catholic as well as very conservative. She is a registered Republican.

Madison is a sophomore and a member of the Honors college at WKU as well. Madison is majoring in finance as well as accounting. Madison grew up in Northern Kentucky and describes her family as lower class. Her residual check from the university is the means she uses in order to pay for her sorority dues. Madison identifies with the Democratic Party and describes herself as spiritual rather than religious.

Overall, there was a decent amount of diversity at our table. As you can see from above, the political parties were split about half and half between the Republican party and the Democratic party. Plus, we had the generational diversity which gave us a nice range from the host, someone who had been around and seen different things then the college students at the table did, as well as having a younger viewpoint with the host’s daughter. I truly enjoyed having the different generations represented at dinner because the generation diversity gave a different take on every aspect of the conversation. In regards to diversity of religion, most of our group were Christians, however there was diversity in the denominations that everyone associated themselves with which allowed for some diversity in conversation.

The dinner went very smoothly for the most part. I think this was in large part due to the way Brooke and I approached the dinner. Brooke and I began the dinner by explaining the purpose of the project and set the tone for the dinner by laying out some guidelines. There were three guidelines: 1. We would all remain respectful of others’ opinions and beliefs, 2. No one would be required to share if they felt in any way uncomfortable doing so, and 3. Brooke and I reserved the right to change the topic of conversation if we felt that the conversation was deteriorating and was no longer productive. Throughout the dinner the guidelines never had to be referenced, however I think they set the tone for the dinner and helped all of us stay on track with our discussions.

Our opening question for the dinner was, “Beyond voting, paying taxes, and following laws, what does citizenship mean to you?” After a few minutes of thinking discussion began. The participants at the table were all in agreement that a good citizen is one who goes through their everyday duties, but always goes that one step further. A good citizen is the one who truly takes an interest in their neighbors as people and plays a role in helping them and the community however they can. I then asked the question, why do we all think that this is how a good citizen should act? It seemed unanimous that the women in the room were stemming their answers from their Christian roots. They were all thinking in the aspect of living for Christ. From there, Brooke questioned the group about the extension of the radius of support they were discussing in regards to the good citizen. Who in the group seemed to view it more locally and who viewed it more globally? The women who lived in cities, Christa and Allison, seemed to think of themselves as more global citizens and when asked couldn’t tell us much about their neighbors, however, Madison and Haleigh who were from more rural areas knew a lot about their neighbors and had developed those personal connections and saw themselves as more local citizens. Sarah, was the outlier, being from Franklin we would have assumed she may see herself as more of a local citizen, but when asked she described herself as a global citizen and said she attributed this to her mission work that she had done in Haiti. Spending time in Haiti changed Sarah’s viewpoints on citizenship and she thinks that we should help where we can whenever we can. Sarah brought a different aspect to the table with her experience abroad and I think everyone enjoyed hearing her perspective.

The next hot topic of our discussion was the presidential election. Our dinner was hosted the week prior to elections and it seemed that everyone was slightly more edgy about this topic. We had a multitude of varying viewpoints in the room which gave us an in-depth debate, however, Brooke and I steered the conversation towards what each person in the room wanted America to be and who of the candidates in the running could achieve those desires. Caroline began this discussion and explained that she saw an America that had expanded rights for all citizens, no matter the race, sexual orientation, etc. Christa took her turn after Caroline and described her America as extremely conservative. After discussing for a bit it was clear that we were not going to be able to come to an agreement about which candidate could give America what it needed nor could we agree on what exactly it was we thought America should look like. Many questions were then posed such as, how can we make America better when a better America looks different for each of us? If this is how divided a group of ten of us are, imagine how divided this country is. Is our country ever going to be united? Is the division of our country going to get worse every year? How will that effect coming elections? Kelli shared her experience over the years and explained that there had been awful elections in the past and yet, we were still standing. This made us all feel a little better and then sent us into a topic of discussion about the media and how this election may just seem worse than others due to the medias involvement. One conversation led to another and soon enough I realized we had been discussing different topics for almost two hours and we all decided it was about time to head home.

Through this project I learned how important it is to be open-minded and to not judge a book by its cover, or even its overview. The women in this house looked similar to me, and had similar religious beliefs, and most went to the same school and were also in sororities, however, not one of these women had the exact same viewpoints as me. We all varied in ideals and what we thought was best, but we all listened and respected one another’s opinions. We all practiced being open-minded. This dinner and these conversations gave me an insight on what deliberation can achieve when done right. In the atmosphere we all created, everyone’s voice could be heard and was honestly considered. In Melville’s, “How We Talk Matters,” a reading for our class, he states, “Talk is the essential ingredient of politics. It not only shapes decisions, it shapes us – our thinking, and our understanding of ourselves and others, our way of dealing with conflict and differences.” What Melville is saying here is exactly what we put into practice at this dinner. Talking is a way of understanding one another and a way of figuring out our differences. I think that if our country was able to talk the way Melville describes talking, then maybe, just maybe America could get on the right track. This project was very enjoyable and I truly learned so much about myself and the new friends I made at our dinner. I hope that I can continue my life practicing the art of talking and actively listening that was shown to me during our discussions at our Kentucky Kitchen Table and within this class.

Kentucky’s Kitchen Table- Learning to be Inclusive

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By Katie

Citizenship means different things to all people depending on their background and upbringing. For this Kentucky Kitchen Table project, my friend Kenoa and I were able to have dinner around a kitchen table which held people from all different walks of life. The hosts were Dick and Cindy, an older couple, in their eighties, that attend that same church as Kenoa and me. Dick and Cindy are American but spent most of their lives serving Christ overseas, Dick in Pakistan and Cindy in different countries in Africa. They now live in Bowling Green serving international populations here. Also at the table was Jessie, one of Dick and Cindy’s neighbors. Joel, Jessie’s husband is currently in Turkey at a conference. Joel and Jessie are preparing to move to Turkey to do missions. Because of this and because of Dick and Cindy’s extensive overseas experience, they had the idea to have Turkish breakfast for our dinner. Since most of us had no knowledge of authentic Turkish food, Dick and Cindy told us a list of things we could bring (bread, eggs, butter, olives, feta cheese, etc.) and we all chose something from the list and brought it.

Another guest at the table was Douda, a student at WKU and the son of two Liberian refugees. He is a friend of Joel and Jessie’s. His experiences with citizenship were enlightening and very different from everyone else’s at the table. He brought to the table very diverse experiences with culture and upbringing. Mary Lou, a WKU faculty member, was also an attendee at the dinner. She works at the International Enrollment Office on campus where she assists our very large number of international students. She has lived in America for almost her entire life but is originally Colombian. Mary Lou and Douda had very interesting cultural experiences. Mary Lou feels that her job really does a lot in serving a greater purpose in the world because she helps international students get involved on campus which is often difficult for them to do. Mary Lou defines citizenship as being involved in a community, and that is exactly what she helps international students do.

Other students who attended include Macy, a student worker in the international enrollment office and Kathleen, a graduate student at WKU studying math. They had very interesting perspectives to bring to the table. Macy spent this past summer volunteering at a refugee camp in Greece. Through this, she gained insight into what life is like for people who don’t have a place they feel they belong. Citizenship and democracy feel very different to someone who spent their whole summer in a place absent of these two concepts. Alex, another resident of Bowling Green and friend of Dick and Cindy’s also attended the dinner. He was born in a small town in Lexington, KY where he was homeschooled before coming to college. This caused him to have an interesting concept of citizenship and inclusion.

Citizenship took on very different meanings to everyone around the table: safety, community, inclusion. Dick and Cindy spoke of their time serving on mission overseas and the way the community was different in the places they served. Cindy expressed that while serving in Africa, she felt like more of a “true citizen” than she does sometimes in America. She believes this is because of the closeness of community in the small villages in which she served. Dick thinks that citizenship represents being there for one another and helping each other out. He stated, sadly, that he feels Americans sometimes forget that as the meaning of citizenship. We focus too much on our responsibilities as citizens instead of what we can do to make each other’s lives better.

Douda and Mary Lou had similar definitions of citizenship, as far as what it’s like coming from a different country or gaining American citizenship. Coming from an oppressed family, Douda equated citizenship with safety. Douda and Mary Lou emphasized the importance of the people in America who reached out to their families and made them feel welcome. They found that reaching out to people and making their transitions easier is a big part of what makes a community. Macy agreed wholeheartedly with what they were saying, especially considering her heart for refugees. She believes it is a gift and a passion of hers to make refugees feel that they are at home in America. To them, this doesn’t necessarily mean just gaining American citizenship and the rights to do things most citizens can, but it means being included by Americans and being shown different American customs and ways of life. Dick and Cindy were those people for Mary Lou and Joel and Jessie were those people for Douda so it was a great experience to be able to see those relationships come full circle.

Coming from a white, middle class family who has been exposed to very little oppression and exclusion, it was a very eye-opening experience to be able to see the way people go through the journey of feeling like a citizen in America. I have only had one experience overseas and that was last December when I went to Haiti. During that week, I experienced more feelings of not belonging than I ever have before and got to understand a little bit of how it feels to know you don’t fit in culturally or racially. Now, hearing Douda and Mary Lou’s stories, I think back on the kids in Haiti yelling “Blanc, blanc!” as we drove by and do not by any means equate those stories because the minimal exclusion I felt is monumentally smaller than anything they and their families have felt. However, I am glad I got the opportunity to hear their stories and hear everyone else describe their experience with citizenship. Because of this experience, I believe I am more educated and aware of ways I can become a better citizen here in Bowling Green. By going out of my way to be inclusive and empathetic toward those around me, I will be bettering the community by creating a more loving environment in which we can all live better together in unity.

Kentucky Kitchen Table

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By Kenoa

When this project was assigned, my immediate thought was that I would complete this assignment in my hometown because I would be more comfortable there. However, after some thought, I realized the potential this project had. Some of my fondest family memories are of all of the many times my big, loud, family has been talking, laughing, and, most importantly, eating around our kitchen table. Bowling Green is going to be my home away from home for the remainder of my college career so I thought getting together with people I know and people I do not it the best way to create lasting memories and meaningful relationships with the people I will be around for a few more years. I got together with my friend Katie and hosted a Kentucky Kitchen Table here in Bowling Green at the home of a couple from my church and invited other members we did not know well and some neighbors of the couple.

Dick and Cindy are an older couple- in their eighties- that attends the same church as Katie and I. Dick spent most of his life living as a missionary in Pakistan and Cindy was a missionary in various countries in Africa. The couple was brought together by their faith and they both see this as the most important thing about them. Now they spend their days getting to know the local international population in Bowling Green and guiding other couples that feel called to move overseas for mission work. After reading this about them, it may come as no surprise that for dinner we had an authentic Turkish meal prepared by Dick and Cindy. It is obvious that their past experiences still hold a major influence on their life and they love to share stories about their time overseas. In some of the pictures, you can see everyone cracking their boiled eggs in the traditional Turkish way.

Jessie, a neighbor of Dick and Cindy, also attended with her new baby Lucy Mae. Her and her husband Joel are a young couple that Dick and Cindy help mentor because they are preparing to move to overseas in the near future.

Douda is the son of refugee parents originally from Liberia that is a friend of Jessie and Joel. It was interesting to have his point- of- view in the conversation because he has had a very different cultural experience than most of the people at the dinner and he has also had a different experience with citizenship in general. He is a student at WKU.

Mary Lou is a faculty member at WKU that attended. She spends her days in the international enrollment office, helping international students on campus. She is originally from Columbia but has lived in America for most of her life. This, once again, offered an interesting point of view to the conversation as Mary Lou has experienced citizenship in two countries as well.

Mary Lou brought along one of her student workers, Macy. Macy is from Louisville and is about to graduate from WKU. She recently studied abroad in Spain and spent a summer in Greece volunteering at a refugee camp and plans to work with refugees in some way after graduation.

Lastly, Alex is a recent graduate of WKU engineering department that currently works for a concrete mixing company in Bowling Green. He comes from a small town outside of Lexington, KY and was homeschooled growing up so the move to Bowling Green was a big transition for him.

The many different backgrounds and stages in life represented around this one table led to some good conversation with different ways of thinking presented. We started the conversation by simply asking everyone what citizenship meant to them. To Douda, citizenship represented safety. When he was a child, the corrupt government in his home country oppressed his family and he said he never felt much like a citizen, but becoming an American citizen gave him the opportunity to feel like he was a part of something bigger. On the other hand, Cindy felt more like a true citizen while she was in Africa. She remembers the importance of community in the small tribal villages she lived in and how this contributed to everyone feeling like a citizen. Dick agreed that, these days, Americans place more emphasis on the duties of citizenship, such as voting, and forget that citizenship includes helping each other out and instilling a sense of community locally as well as on a bigger scale. This stood out to me because this is something that has been so important in this class all semester. In order to create this sense of community we must put into practice things that we have been discussing- empathy for example.

Macy remembers studying in Spain and feeling like an outsider and believes this is what led her to want to help refugees get accustomed to life in America without feeling alone. Her experiences have shown that most refugees that become citizens participate in things like voting and paying taxes but do not truly feel like an American citizen until they have been included by an American family and have American friends to “show them the ropes.” Douda and Mary Lou both agreed that the Americans who reached out to them are the people who impacted their transition to a new country the most.

This discussion and hearing the stories from the people around the table that were from a different country or had a lot of experience abroad really opened my eyes to ways that I could be a more productive citizen in the community of Bowling Green. I kept thinking of the empathy readings and it reminded me to not just feel sorry for new citizens but to welcome them into this new, scary place and help them understand what it means to be a citizen. At the same time, this can introduce a wicked problem because some families are helped in a way that causes them to not develop a sense of independence. All in all, this Kitchen Table was really eye-opening and I feel like after this project, I am more open to talking about topics that can be seen as difficult with others.

Kentucky Mini-Kitchen Table

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By Jamie

For my Kentucky Kitchen Table, I was paired with Callie. I brought my boyfriend, Isaac, and my friends, Shelby and Thomas, while Callie brought her friend, Carla. Overall, we may not have been the most diverse set of people, but we did have our differences. Carla was of Hispanic descent while the rest of us were caucasian. Additionally, most of us were from small towns in and around Kentucky, while Carla was originally from Los Angeles County in California. Isaac and I were also set apart by the fact that we are on the LGBT+ spectrum, and we don’t really follow any religion like most people in Kentucky who are Christian.

To be more in-depth, I am a senior psychology student from Lawrenceburg, KY. Shelby went to high school with me, and we were also roommates for three years at WKU. She is also a psychology student and a senior. Thomas is her boyfriend, and he used to be roommates with my boyfriend. He is a biology student from Mayfield, KY. Isaac, my boyfriend, is a meteorology student from Aurora, IN. We have all been friends since shortly after we arrived at college in 2013. Callie is from Muhlenberg County, KY, and Carla is a psychology student from Shelbyville, KY.

For dinner, Isaac and I made spaghetti with two kinds of sauces for everyone. Callie and Carla brought garlic bread and cookies, and Shelby made bruschetta (and provided her apartment for us to have dinner in). Even though the apartment and kitchen were small and we didn’t have enough dining chairs, we made it work!

While we did talk about many citizenship issues that were given in the example questions, I think the most fun part of the meal was sharing personal stories with one another. We would start with a question from the guide and end up getting off-topic when we realized what we had in common. Callie and Carla are both underclassmen in the Honors College, while my friends and I are seniors in the Honors College. We all bonded by talking about our days at H-4 and in Minton Hall.

I think one of my favorite questions we talked about was “What social issue is closest to your heart and why?” I really enjoyed hearing each person’s issue and felt like I knew them a lot better afterward. Even with my friends, Thomas and Shelby, I didn’t really know what their answers were going to be before they said them. Shelby answered that she cared the most about gun control, which I knew she cared about but not so much. Thomas answered that he cared the most about vaccinations and education on GMOs. Callie also answered that gun control was most important to her, which I thought was cool; I honestly didn’t think about that issue when I asked everyone the question. While it is an issue I care about, to me, it wasn’t so salient to me at the time.

Carla answered that her most important issue was race, while Isaac and I answered that we cared the most about LGBT+ rights. I think we had an interesting conversation about why those issues were important to us and maybe not as important to the others at the table. For example, I said that race was an important issue to me, but that I didn’t feel it could be my most important since I am caucasian and I have never experienced racism first-hand. In this way, it was interesting to me that Shelby, Thomas, and Callie chose issues that were not exactly related to basic human rights like racism, sexism, or homophobia. Not to say this is a bad thing, of course! It was just cool to see what people really care about the most.

Another one of my favorite questions we asked was “Have you ever had a conversation with someone from a really difference background than yourself?” Most of us were from small towns where most people were white, Christian, Republican, etc. Callie said that as someone from a small homogenous town, she never spoke to anyone with a different background until she went to GSP. Shelby talked about the experience she had staying with an Italian host family on a study-abroad trip to Europe. Isaac and Thomas struggled to think of an example, jokingly citing the single person who is identifiable as a minority on their floor in Minton. I thought this was kind of telling since while WKU may be a diverse place, the diversity decreases once you go into the Honors College. It’s almost 90% white; it can be hard to interact with diverse people when you live with other Honors students, take classes with them, and interact at events with them.

We also talked about how not only WKU but Bowling Green itself was diverse. I used to live here before moving to Lawrenceburg, and when I was here I had friends of three different ethnicities. This diversity was also brought up when we talked about things that we love about our town.

I think a lot of our conversations related to the concept from class of having actual experiences. Experiences with others who are diverse are especially important so that we can all understand each other better. Thomas talked about how he used to be Catholic until he came to college. He also did not personally know any gay people and didn’t have the best feelings toward them before he found out that Isaac was bisexual. After spending time with Isaac, he realized that gay people are just like everyone else, and he learned a lot about those outside of his white, Republican hometown.

Even though Thomas could have probably read about someone like Isaac and “learned” the same thing, it wouldn’t have compared to the experience of living with him for three years. You not only have to practice educational subjects to learn, but I think that you have to practice being around people to really learn about them too. Reading about other cultures is great, but you can never fully learn about them until you experience them first-hand. There are so many personal differences between people in a culture (and similarities to your own culture) that you can’t experience without communicating with others.

Overall, I liked the experience more than I thought! I feel like I learned a lot about others’ points of view, not only from the strangers at the table but even from my friends as well.