{"id":2015,"date":"2023-02-24T14:04:06","date_gmt":"2023-02-24T19:04:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/courses.lsa.umich.edu\/english-iui\/?p=2015"},"modified":"2023-02-24T14:04:09","modified_gmt":"2023-02-24T19:04:09","slug":"to-be-seen-and-heard","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/courses.lsa.umich.edu\/english-iui\/2023\/02\/24\/to-be-seen-and-heard\/","title":{"rendered":"To Be Seen and Heard"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Keheng Chen<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

February 24, 2023<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\"\"
Pham, Duy. \u201cPeople Holding Shoulders Sitting on Wall.\u201d <\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

It is an important part of nearly everyone\u2019s lives to be able to fit in, whether that be in the form of making friends, working with coworkers, studying with classmates, or just having people to talk to. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fitting in isn\u2019t always easy for everyone, though, as people face a variety of different obstacles that may prevent them from being able to socialize and make new connections. This might seem even more prevalent in our current society, where many of us are so deeply captivated by technology to the point where we could be physically present in a conversation but mentally absent. <\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Imagine going out for lunch one day with a group of friends. You\u2019re excited to be able to meet up with all of them, and you pick a fancy restaurant for everyone to meet up. Your hopes are then shattered as two of your friends spend the meal scrolling through Facebook, another friend starts listening to music on their headphones, and your conversation with your remaining friends keeps getting interrupted with text messages that ring every 5 seconds or so. Everyone appears to be here, but their attention seems to be taken by something else.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

\n

Although reality may not be as drastic as the imaginary situation above, surely many have already observed the struggle of keeping someone\u2019s attention. In a way, it\u2019s almost like being seen by others but not heard. <\/p>\n<\/div>

\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n
\n
\n
<\/div>\n\n\n\n
\n

Meyer, Marvin. \u201cPeople Sitting down near Table with\u00a0Assorted Laptop Computers.\u201d <\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

To help visualize this better, imagine this new scenario: you\u2019re walking down a busy street; people are bustling around you in all directions when someone suddenly tugs on your sleeve. You turn around to face a man who desperately asks you for a dollar that he\u2019s missing to buy a subway ticket. What would you do? Would you give him the dollar? Or would you shrug him off and walk away? What if, instead, the man was someone who happened to text you one day to ask you for a dollar? Does it suddenly seem easier to just scroll past the text message and ignore it entirely? <\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Similarly to this imaginary scenario, we may find ourselves doing things to people who we can\u2019t directly see that we usually wouldn\u2019t do if we were face to face with them. With the world having become a place where people are able to send messages to someone else on the opposite side of the globe, it almost seems that the genuineness of some relationships are tainted. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

With our current society being the way it is, how are relationships and connections built at all? One way is by being inclusive, kind, and willing to listen to others. Someone who is able to excellently embody all of these traits within the local community of Ann Arbor is Madeline Zerial.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n
\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Madeline is a senior in the college of Literature, Science, and the Arts at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, Michigan, currently working towards her degree. Madeline also works as a Resident Advisor (RA) in one of the residence halls at the University of Michigan, but to simply call her an RA doesn\u2019t do her enough justice, as she is also a very engaged member of the local community in a variety of ways. Madeline stands out as someone who tries her best to make sure everyone around her feels included; the leadership and kindness she displays within the community really highlights her inclusiveness as well. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

During an interview with her, Madeline was asked: \u201cWhat are some groups or organizations you\u2019re a part of within the local community?\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

“I am involved in the Comprehensive Studies Program, or CSP,” she responded. \u201cIt was a program that I was accepted into as I got accepted to U of M, and it centers around helping people who are from under-resourced or underprivileged areas adjust to college. I\u2019m also involved in Young Life, which is a Christian organization on campus, where we are really involved with other people and really getting to know them as well as doing fun things and adventures.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Madeline described her involvement with the Comprehensive Studies Program, Young Life, and her job as a Resident Advisor, among many other roles. During Madeline’s Freshman year in college, she was paired with a mentor within CSP who guided her and helped her “learn the ropes to college.” She has since become a mentor herself within the CSP program, helping a new generation of Freshman fit into college and serving as someone who first-years and incoming students could rely on and go to for help during times of confusion.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Madeline also described how she became involved with Young Life, which she is now actively involved with every week: \u201cI got involved with Young Life during my Freshman Year,\u201d she said. \u201cSomeone handed me a flyer at Festifall and said, \u2018Hey, do you want to go tubing with us tomorrow?\u2019 and I was like, \u2018Yeah! Why would I not!\u2019\u201d Madeline\u2019s response revealed that she is very eager to meet new people and is open to learning more about the people around her local community. This openness to connect with other people also brought to light how much Madeline enjoyed meeting not only people who were fellow Christians like her but also people who were from different backgrounds from her. This isn\u2019t a common quality as many people struggle to find common ground with other people who are different from themselves, which thus causes them to mostly only associate with people who are similar to themselves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI got to know the community and I got to meet people,\u201d Madeline remarked. \u201cI wasn\u2019t exactly sure how I felt about it at first, but then I made a few good friends, and I really liked that it was a place where people who maybe didn\u2019t know about Jesus or Christianity as well as people who really did know about him and really care about their faith were all able to come together and have a good time, which is what I really liked about it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n
\"\"
\u201cUniversity of Michigan – Comprehensive Studies Program Logo.\u201d<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"
Young Life at the University of Michigan<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
“University of Michigan – Comprehensive Studies Program Logo” and “Young Life at the University of Michigan” <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

When further asked about what other Young Life events or activities she enjoyed, Madeline expressed how much she liked the worship nights and also talked about her enjoyment of working in teams: \u201cI really like the team meetings, just because it\u2019s like a group of five of us who are really dedicated and are able to go deeper in that, which I also think is really fun. I also really like something called contact work, which is when you get to deliberately go out and meet new people, whether that\u2019s finding someone from your class and being like, \u2018Hey, you wanna get coffee or something?\u2019 or it could be like handing out donuts at football games.\u201d Madeline excitedly follows this up by saying, \u201cEveryone was so happy and they were like, \u2018Oh my gosh,  I haven\u2019t eaten anything and I\u2019m four drinks in,\u2019 or something like that.\u201d <\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Madeline is a Christian herself yet she loves to connect with Christians and non-Christians alike. She enjoys when people from different groups can come together and have fun and enjoy the same things. She further elaborates on what motivates her to do what she does, stating, \u201cPeople get curious and ask, \u2018Hey, why\u2019re you always handing out donuts?\u2019 or \u2018Why\u2019re you giving me coffee?\u2019 and I\u2019m like, \u2018You know, I do it because Jesus loves people and I love people.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

During the interview, Madeline also went into more detail about her roles within the local community, such as her leadership role within the Young Life community. \u201cI would do leader training to become a leader; that would be someone who leads one of the bible studies or the events and really plans them. You can become a leader for high schoolers or middle schoolers, so those are different options if you want to do that. As leaders, we have weekly meetings. So within the Young Life college team, there\u2019s like five leaders, and then I\u2019m the head leader of the leaders, so then I have an additional couple meetings a month, and so it’s just talking about bigger things and planning out longer distance things and making sure that we have supplies and stuff like that.\u201d Madeline also briefly mentioned her involvement with the local community even over the summer: \u201cThis summer, I\u2019m working at a summer camp for Young Life for a few weeks, so you could do all sorts of things within that.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The interview topic shifted towards Madeline\u2019s role as a Resident Advisor. In the previous year, Madeline was a Resident Advisor in a co-educational hall, which is a residence hall available to both men and women. This year, she is a Resident Advisor for a gender-inclusive hall that supports students from any gender identity. As an RA, Madeline has to make sure that the residents in her hall feel at home and secure. She does this by building community throughout her hall and getting to know all of her residents. Madeline describes how she often leaves her dorm room door open so that her residents are able to talk to her if they need help or just have something they want to share. Madeline would stop to talk with her residents whenever she runs into them within the residence hall, or anywhere else. Madeline also explains how being in a gender-inclusive hall allows her to be in a more diverse community and to meet more diverse people, which she really enjoys. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

\u201cI feel like having so many different types of people in the hall just related to their gender identity really shows just how vast a community can be just with this one quality in it. It helps you get to meet more friends from different areas\u2026 I actually really like living in a gender-inclusive hall this year because I get to see all of my residents.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
\u201cResidence Hall at the University of Michigan.\u201d<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

During the interview, it really stuck out how inclusive Madeline is towards everyone; she really enjoys building relationships with people from diverse backgrounds and making sure everyone feels happy and safe. She brought up how she had wanted to become a Resident Advisor since before even coming to the University of Michigan, further indicating how much she likes to build connections with others. Madeline does an exceptional job of making sure that everyone, no matter what background they come from, are able to fit in and just have a good time. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

When asked what were some highlights about her job as a RA, Madeline responded, \u201cJust meeting you guys, and I just love talking to you guys, and whenever I can just have my door open and like talk to you guys, it\u2019s just so fun when you come in, and I get to hear about what\u2019s going on in your lives and give you candy, and I just genuinely love that. I love creating those relationships, and it\u2019s just so fun to meet other people, and I love playing games and stuff like that and just being able to offer my space for that. I remember how lost I felt as a Freshman, and just me being able to show people like, \u2018Oh, college isn\u2019t that bad, you can find fun in it, you can find people,\u2019 and also like bonding with other RAs, you get to meet a lot of really cool people that way, whether you become really good friends or not, it\u2019s a good way to like meet a bunch of people who are in completely different fields than you.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Displaying this inclusiveness is especially important for incoming college students, some of whom may be coming from an entirely different state or country and don’t have many connections in the new environment. It\u2019s comforting just knowing that there\u2019s someone who is there for you whenever you need help. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Throughout the interview, it was repeatedly brought up how much Madeline loves building relationships with other people. She has built multiple connections with her peers within the Comprehensive Studies Program, between other Resident Advisors in her job, and among fellow community members in Young Life. Madeline is also a leader within her local community: she has the role of a leader within Young Life, she is a RA with the responsibility of building community among many residents, and she is a mentor within the CSP program. With all of these roles and leadership positions comes many responsibilities as well, not to mention having to succeed in her degree program and current courses as well. Yet, all of these duties don’t stop Madeline from doing what she loves and what she believes is right. <\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Madeline\u2019s role brings her to the forefront of change. During the interview, Madeline was asked what, if anything, she would change about the current housing system and she expressed how it frustrated her that she couldn\u2019t provide her residents with assistance for even minor injuries because her role as a RA doesn\u2019t allow her to: \u201cSomeone last year, or this year even, cut themselves and they needed a band-aid, but I couldn\u2019t legally give that to them and so it just feels like I\u2019m supposed to support residents and care for them but I can\u2019t even give them a band aid; it seems like there\u2019s so many hoops to get through just for any little thing to happen.\u201d This once again highlights how caring Madeline is towards the people around her, and it also shows how she wants to make improvements to the current housing system that she is working in. As a Resident Advisor, Madeline often has to pay attention to current shortcomings in the student housing system to see what changes could be made for the better. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

\u201cI think, as an RA, it\u2019s very nice to have my job, however I feel like the system is just not as efficient or as great as it could be.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Madeline\u2019s interview didn\u2019t involve too many questions as she provided extremely detailed responses to the few questions that were asked. It became clear throughout the interview that she was an extremely active listener. It\u2019s often said that people feel better when they are able to share their stories with someone else, but finding someone to listen to their story is another problem of itself. Madeline did a wonderful job of this throughout the interview and gave extremely detailed responses that fully captured the questions that were asked, if not more. This is perhaps better captured by a statement Madeline made during the interview: \u201cWe did this other really cool event, and it was called Dollar for a Story. We just stood there, and people told us stories, and then we gave them a dollar… that was just really fun.\u201d It was clear that she was an active listener, not only for the interview but for everyone around her.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
\u201cGroup of People Sitting in a Circle on Grass.\u201d<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n

It might seem extremely easy to be inclusive towards everyone, but oftentimes people have implicit biases causing them to make others feel left out. It is even more important during times like this to reach out to others. Although a lot of relationships seem to be through a screen nowadays due to the pandemic, it is still critically important that we still stay connected with the society around us. We should also take the time to appreciate those in our community who are actively reaching out to other people and making them feel more included. What they\u2019re doing may not seem like much, but who knows, they may be the ones tying our community together. Madeline is an example of such a community member. <\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

As an RA, a local leader, and a fellow member of the community, Madeline made sure that no opinions were left unconsidered and all have had a chance to talk. Thus, not only does Madeline try to make sure everyone is seen, she also makes sure that everyone is heard as well. As she stated during the interview, \u201cIt was really nice just to be able to hear other people\u2019s perspective.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Works Cited<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

\u201cGroup of People Sitting in a Circle on Grass.\u201d Pixabay<\/em>, 8 July 2014, https:\/\/pixabay.com\/photos\/team-group-people-motivation-386673\/. Accessed 22 Feb. 2023. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Meyer, Marvin. \u201cPeople Sitting down near Table with Assorted Laptop Computers.\u201d Unsplash<\/em>, 23 Feb. 2018, https:\/\/unsplash.com\/photos\/SYTO3xs06fU. Accessed 22 Feb. 2023. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pham, Duy. \u201cPeople Holding Shoulders Sitting on Wall.\u201d Unsplash<\/em>, 16 June 2018, https:\/\/unsplash.com\/photos\/Cecb0_8Hx-o. Accessed 22 Feb. 2023. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cResidence Hall at the University of Michigan.\u201d Support for Student Residents during Partial Work Stoppage<\/em>, https:\/\/studentlife.umich.edu\/parents\/article\/support-student-residents-during-partial-work. Accessed 22 Feb. 2023. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cUniversity of Michigan – Comprehensive Studies Program Logo.\u201d University of Michigan – Comprehensive Studies Program<\/em>, https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/umichCSP\/. Accessed 22 Feb. 2023. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYoung Life at the University of Michigan Logo.\u201d Young Life at the University of Michigan<\/em>, https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/YLCumich\/. Accessed 22 Feb. 2023. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Keheng Chen February 24, 2023 It is an important part of nearly everyone\u2019s lives to be able to fit in, whether that be in the form of making friends, working with coworkers, studying with classmates, or just having people to talk to.  Fitting in isn\u2019t always easy for everyone, though, as people face a variety Read More …<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4366,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[21],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2015","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-wn23-ecm-project"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/courses.lsa.umich.edu\/english-iui\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2015","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/courses.lsa.umich.edu\/english-iui\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/courses.lsa.umich.edu\/english-iui\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/courses.lsa.umich.edu\/english-iui\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4366"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/courses.lsa.umich.edu\/english-iui\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2015"}],"version-history":[{"count":20,"href":"https:\/\/courses.lsa.umich.edu\/english-iui\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2015\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2059,"href":"https:\/\/courses.lsa.umich.edu\/english-iui\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2015\/revisions\/2059"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/courses.lsa.umich.edu\/english-iui\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2015"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/courses.lsa.umich.edu\/english-iui\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2015"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/courses.lsa.umich.edu\/english-iui\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2015"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}