by Davis

At the start of the semester when I first heard about this assignment, I wasn’t sure what to expect from it. But after I had dinner with my classmate, Savannah,  and our host, Jennifer, I had learned more about what it means to be a citizen.

The dinner that Jennifer made for us was a delicious bow-tie pasta dish and a salad, and the coversation we had was just as good as the food. Our conversation started with the question, “What does it mean to be a citizen?” All of the answers to this question were very enlightening, and we each had a slightly different way of answering the question. However, all of us agreed that having compassion and empathy for other people is one of the cornerstones of citizenship. If people aren’t able to talk to each other or seek understanding with others, democracy stops working because people won’t be able to reach compromises. This led to more discussion about the 2016 presidential elections and immigration about the importance of creating dialogue between people instead of divisions.

I especially liked Jennifer’s attitudes about empathy. She talked about her work with a humanitarian organization at a refugee camp, and how the refugees were basically stuck in the camp because most of them didn’t have any papers that would allow them to get citizenship in another country. Almost all of the aid that reached the camp came specifically from that humanitarian organization, and it tried its best to help some of the families immigrate to the United States. However, once in the United States, refugee families still need support from the communites they live in, and the people still in the camp need support as well. Hearing a story like this underlined the importance of reaching out to other people and having empathy for where they came from, as well as where they are going.

My biggest takeaway from this project was the importance of interacting with other people. Under normal circumstances, I wouldn’t have had this dinner, but because of this assignment I had a meal and a conversation that I learned a lot from. If you don’t take the chance to reach out to other people, you will never learn what insights they have to offer. But by having empathy for others, you can be a better citizen and help to create more understanding between people.

My partner in in the Kentucky Kitchen Table assignment was Sam, a broadcasting major from my Citizen and Self seminar. Our hosts for this project were Tom and Stephanie, a married couple. Tom and Stephanie follow a vegan diet, so this meal was a fairly new experience for me. While enjoying the delicious meal, we talked about several topics relating to what we’ve learned in class, starting with what citizenship entails beyond voting, paying taxes, and following laws. The main points that were brought up on this subject were ways to successfully live with each other. For example, we agreed that it is important to pay attention to those around us, rather than living in our own little bubble, and that we have to be patient and work with others to resolve differences. We also talked about what feel are the best things in our world today. Stephanie had a lot to say on this subject. With her kids living in many different places around the world, she is very thankful the world is so interconnected, and that she is thankful for programs like Skype that allow her and Tom to stay close to their kids despite the physical distance. Next we talked about whether or not we have any obligations to other people in our country and community, and we had a couple different opinions within the group. Tom, Stephanie, and I agreed that we do have obligations to those around us, especially when they’re in trouble, but Sam disagreed, giving the same opinion he gave when this subject was discussed in class: that we should help those in need, but we don’t really have any obligation to do so. Though we could see understand where Sam was coming from, and vice versa, we eventually had to simply agree to disagree on the subject. Finally, we talked about what advice should be given to those running for office in our country. The main points there were that political candidates should be open and transparent, keep their promises, and accurately represent the people they are supposed to be representing. The project was a good opportunity to learn how to discuss important social issues and what can be done about them, which relates directly to what we have been learning in class. It also gave me a chance to enjoy a meal unlike what I usually eat, with people who lead a different kind of lifestyle than I do, which relates to what we’ve talked about in class with understanding people’s experiences that differ from yours, which can give you a new point of view on a subject. Lastly, it allowed me to meet new friends. I thoroughly enjoyed dinner with Tom, Stephanie, and Sam, and the conversations we had.

By Kate

I have always done things a little bit differently from my peers. Many people consider me to be rather unusual, for a myriad of reasons (i.e. my non-traditional background.) So it is not surprising that I took a bit of a different perspective on this assignment, too. I planned to do my “Kentucky” Kitchen Table project in Richmond, Virginia, during my trip home for Spring Break. However, as it often happens, my idea did not go according to plan. As it turned out, my mom decided to come for a visit to see my new apartment in town. So, I adapted, as we do, and planned an after-church lunch real Kentucky Kitchen Table at my future in-laws’ home, while my mom was in town.

I realized one of the fundamental requirements for this project was that there had to be people in attendance that I did not know well, so we took this one step further and invited my boyfriend’s step-sister’s boyfriend, whom we were all meeting for the first time. In addition, up to this point, I had only met my boyfriend’s step-sister once, over a year ago. When all was said and done, in attendance were myself, my mom, Jill, my boyfriend, Travis, his dad, Todd, his step-mom, Denise, her daughter, Ashlee, Ashlee’s boyfriend, Josh, Travis’ step-sister in-law, Brittani, and brother, Mitch, and Mitch’s girlfriend, Kristen.  Also in attendance was my other boyfriend, Brittani’s son, Ryan, whom I did not count toward the ten-person attendance limit, due to the fact that he is three, and cannot even count up to ten.

I feel it is important to note that, although those who participated in the meal and conversation were all related in some way or another, we were still an incredibly diverse group of individuals, in composition. Racially and ethnically, for instance, I am Mexican, and Filipina, while my mom is where my Hispanic blood comes from. My mom also has a significant amount of Alaska Native in her. Travis, Todd, Mitch, Denise, and Ashlee, on the other hand, are mostly Caucasian, although the boys do have a small amount of Cherokee in them. Josh is biracial–African American and Caucasian. Brittani’s father is Puerto Rican.

Furthermore, Travis has lived in Bowling Green pretty much all of his life. Denise, Todd, Kristen, and Mitch have spent the majority of their time living in different parts of Kentucky. Brittani’s husband, Denise’s son, Shane, was in the Marines, so he was stationed in North Carolina when he met Brittani. My mom and I were both military brats growing up, so both she and I are “stateless,” not from anywhere. Todd owns a business, so Travis and Mitch spent a good portion of their childhoods being raised in an upper-class home, until later, when they all had to adjust to a lower-middle-class lifestyle. Conversely, my mom and I, and our family, have risen from a previously lower-class household to a now solidly upper-middle-class one. Another difference is that Todd, Ryan, and I were the only people whose parents have been together since marriage.

So, despite our apparent similarities, we are actually a very diverse group. That being said, once we began discussing the prompts I had, I was somewhat surprised at how similar everybody’s responses were, regardless of our different backgrounds. Everyone provided me with similar answers to my main question, which regarded just what “citizenship,” means to them (outside of voting, following laws, and paying taxes.) Almost every person I addressed simply said, “that is what citizenship means to me.” This question definitely did not resonate with anybody I spoke with about it. After much prompting, however, I was able to elicit a slightly more solid response to this central question–everybody agreed that citizenship also involves being neighborly, having a sense of patriotism, and being involved in your country. It seemed everybody believed that citizenship is more about community than about the individual, which I found interesting.

I read a few of the suggested questions, to see if anybody was interested in discussing any of them, and every person there was amused by the question about whether or not they had ever had a conversation with somebody from a different background, as that was exactly what we were doing. We also talked about issues important to each of us. Kristen and Mitch are far more liberal, Brittani, Ashlee, and Josh are somewhat liberal on some issues (such as legalization of marijuana,) and very conservative on others, like me and Travis (although the issues we are more centered on are not the same as theirs,) while Jill, Todd, and Denise are all conservative on nearly every issue. We discussed abortion, women in combat, and the election.

I learned it really does not matter what something looks like on the surface—until you get involved and actually interact with another person, you can never really know what they believe in or why. I also learned that my personal views line up much more closely with the older people than with the younger people, beside Travis (we have similar views.) This relates to what I have learned in this class about how different situations change peoples’ beliefs. This was displayed in many of the pieces we read, as well as the two “line” activities we did in class. Paying for the Party showcased how economic class makes a difference, the three environmental pieces that we read (“Why Bother,” “The Energy Diet,” and “Forget Shorter Showers“) showcased how differently people can feel about the same topic. The biggest thing I learned from this project is something that seems obvious when put on paper, but is often forgotten or ignored, which is that you simply cannot tell or predict what a person’s values are based off of any one piece of information. There are innumerable factors that shape who people are and what they believe in, and I think that that is an intrinsically beautiful thing.

Starting at the far middle, to the right: Todd, Mitch, Kristen, Travis, Me, Brittani, Jill. Not pictured: Ashlee, Josh (inside the house,) Denise (taking the photo,) and Ryan.