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Soccer!!

My Passion for Soccer

            Presently Soccer is one of the most popular sports in the world; and people like to support lots of teams. Going to the stadiums, watching games at home, and making bets with each other are some examples of how people connect with this sport. Incredible amounts of money are spent just for a ticket, and sometimes people do not even know the players, but watching good matches and seeing good tricks with the ball, makes people excited. Although fans don’t know anything about the players, in reality they hope to enjoy a good Soccer game. Most people support this sport just for fun; however, a few passionately and intensely support it for variety of reasons. One of those people is me – I have played since I was a child, it is fun to watch on TV, and it is extremely excited to play – three reasons why I love this sport.

Soccer was inculcated to me by my uncle, Jorge, when I was I child is where everything started. The importance to support Real Madrid, a team from Spain, was his sermon every single day. When Real Madrid played, he did not have anything more important than that, including going to Mass. At first, I supported that team just because my uncle made do it, but once I understood the rules and everything about it, I started to feel the passion. Now, no matter where I am, supporting Soccer and Real Madrid is essential for me. Although Real Madrid is not a team from Guatemala- and some people express it is silly what I do – I feel so proud supporting this team. This is because it is in my mind and I am absolutely obsessed; therefore, the important point is what I think, not what other people say.

Watching games at home is the second thing that reflects my passion for soccer. To be seated for ninety-minutes in a sofa, watching a game, is so boring for some people. For me, watching a game means many things: learn new tricks, understanding unfamiliar rules, and seeing the structure of how the teams play. The passion for Soccer makes me feel like I am playing or I am supporting at the stadium—yelling, jumping, singing, and so on. People might think that it is a waste of time, but that’s what buffs really do, support their teams, no matter if they lose or win. When new stars appear, makes more interesting this sport because everyone has their favorite. For example, my favorite is Ozil, a player from Germany, who plays very well, and I really enjoy watching him. For those reasons and much more, I love watching games at home.

As a result of watching games, my motivation to practice soccer is greatly elevated. Imitating tricks is always in my mind when I am playing. No matter if I do them well, the important thing is to keep practicing, hoping that one day they will be perfect. Practicing, at least twice a week makes me happy because I stay in shape and have more experience which makes a big difference compared to others who don’t do it. Communication, good attitudes, and how to work in group are 3 things I have learned from soccer. Those things have helped me in my personal life because practicing them is how I can become a better person, that’s why I love to practice this wonderful sport.

In conclusion, soccer has been an important part of my life, playing it since my childhood and supporting a really good team—Real Madrid. Through media such as television, I have had a better connection with it. Likewise, putting into practice and trying to copy the different tricks has been increasing my passion for soccer.

-Jacinto Arias, 2013

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If only….!

In a recent English assignment, Celson was asked which charity he would give money to if he won $50,000!  Here is his essay:

 

Nuestros Pequeños Hermanos 

If I had $50,000 to give to charity, there are some reasons why I would give the money to Nuestros Pequenos Hermanos (NPH). First of all, it is an international organization which has helped kids and young man and women in poverty and at risk situations. They have nine orphanages in nine Latin-Americans countries that their philosophy is to live as a big family.  Another reason is that they have between 300 and 500 children in their homes in each country.  They provide them a really good life.  For example, they give them a home to live in, food, medical shelter and love through the people who take care of them.  In addition, they give them education to become efficient for the society.  The final and most import reason why I would like to give $ 50,000 to Nuestros Pequenos Hermanos is that I live there and they give me all the education that I have.  Such as, they paid for my technical course in Technical accounting, and recently they gave me a scholarship to study English and Leadership here in the United State.  I like the way that they raised me!  To sum up, the work that they do to transforms lives, the facilities that they provide and the way that they help me are the reasons why I would give $ 50,000 to this wonderful organization.

 

Celson and Jacinto receiving their “top student” awards for excellence in their ESL courses last quarter!
Working hard!

 

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Leadership and Vocation

Over the past few weeks, we have been exploring in depth the intersection of our gifts and the needs of the world.  As Frederick Buechner said, “vocation is the places where your deep gladness meets the world’s deep need”.

We began with a day-long workshop on Spiritual Gifts.  This gave us time to learn about different gifts, as well as beginning to identify which gifts we may have.  Time to meet one-on-one with an experienced spiritual adviser was valuable in understanding how God may be working through us.

We identified a gift to “practice” using during the week and this “gift experiment” gave us the opportunity to intentionally put into practice our learning.

Then, this weekend we enjoyed a wonderful weekend retreat on Whidbey Island.  Exploring our personal strengths, gifts given by God, and the needs of NPH and the world; we began work on our culminating projects.  The hope is that these projects will allow us to share what we have learned this year in Seattle with our brothers and sisters at home.  We will spend the next few months working on these projects and gathering the necessary resources.

It has been an exciting and hopeful process to discover our passions, gifts, and consider how to use them to bless others.

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Easter Reflections

This week we had a visitor from Honduras, Father Reynaldo!  It was great to see him and be able to share some time with him.  He also shared a reflection on the season of Easter with us, reminding us that Christ’s death and resurrection are an invitation to step into the story of God.  It is an invitation to participate.  We were encouraged to consider the relationship we have with God now and the relationship we long for, trying to imagine a holy friendship.  A “letter from God” reminded us of how we can find God in every aspect of our lives, that He is waiting for us, longing for relationship with us, and that we are loved unconditionally.

We also spent time discussing our prayer lives, how we pray, and the struggles we all face as we long to turn our hearts to God.

Finally, Bill (Rodolfo’s host father), led us in a reflection about the gifts God has given us.  Each was instructed to take a rock.  Then, he showed us a small fountain that already had many rocks in it.  As each of us added our rock to the fountain, we named a gift we feel God has given us to share with the world.  Each rock added changed the flow of the water, just as we each have the potential to change our part of the world.

We ended in a bilingual singing of, “This is the day that the Lord has made / Este es el día que hizo el Señor”, followed by a wonderful family meal.

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Thank you for your visit, Father Reynaldo!

 

 

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Dinner and a Documentary

This weekend, we had the opportunity to view the documentary MissRepresentation and have a conversation about gender, sexism, and violence against women both in the United States and other countries around the world.

The film focuses on the (US) media’s limited and often disparaging portrayal of women and girls.  It is difficult to watch, but an important film for any future leader to see.  We are grateful to Dr. Serena Cosgrove (Seattle University) for her hospitality and for leading us in a conversation about gender roles and violence.

 

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From the MissRepresentation website: “In a society where media is the most persuasive force shaping cultural norms, the collective message that our young women and men overwhelmingly receive is that a woman’s value and power lie in her youth, beauty, and sexuality, and not in her capacity as a leader. While women have made great strides in leadership over the past few decades, the United States is still 90th in the world for women in national legislatures, women hold only 3% of clout positions in mainstream media, and 65% of women and girls have disordered eating behaviors.”.

We were challenged to engage this material critically and to continue asking questions.  The students were able to share their own observations about gender and sexism in the United States and how that is similar or different than in their home countries.  Over the next few weeks, the students will be able to discuss the topic further with their mentors.

 

 

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Intern Alex Ozkan and the NPH Leadership Institute

Hello!

For those of you who don’t know me or what I do, my name is Alex Ozkan and I am one of the two NPHI Leadership Institute Interns this year from Seattle University. I have been working with the Leadership Institute since September, and am grateful to have such a fantastic internship. I serve as a cultural partner and English tutor for the four students in the program this year as well as provide some administrative support for the Leadership Institute. Coming in, I expected my role as an intern to be a typical intern role: office work, errands, etc. However, after attending the opening mass early in the year, it became quite clear that this internship would be something different. I was greeted with home-cooked food (a rarity for a college student) and a friendly environment. I remember being in awe after returning to campus the hospitality I experienced and the number of people who truly wanted to help and support the four students in the program this year. From that point on, I realized that I was going to be welcomed into the NPH family whether I expected to or not.

From my perspective as an English tutor and cultural partner, I have seen growth and personal development in the students. From an academic perspective, the students continue to improve and make progress in the difficult language that English is. They impress every one of my friends they meet with their comprehension and conversational skills that they have developed in the past six months. Additionally, I continue to be inspired by the students’ commitment to making the world a better place and desire to help their respective homes. They express their gratitude for everything they have been given liberally and truly strive to be good servant leaders.

As for me, I have learned and grown through the experience I am getting by working for the Leadership Institute. I am learning what the culture is like in a nonprofit organization and am seeing the difficulties that come with running one—particularly with such a young organization like the Leadership Institute. I am gaining cultural awareness by working with the students and am learning the difficulties that come with working in a cross-cultural context. Surprisingly enough, I am also learning more than I expected about English, particularly some of the grammar and mechanics. This experience has also reaffirmed my desire to serve internationally at some point in my life.

The past 6 months of working with the students and the Leadership Institute have been fantastic and I look forward to interning with such a great organization through June!
Peace,
Alex Ozkan
Seattle University ’15

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Homesickness

Jacinto writes about missing his family, friends, and home:

Never in my life have I lived in another country until this opportunity. At first, I thought living in another country was the best. I thought I would have new opportunities, new friends and new things. I am in another country now and have the things I imagined, but I forgot something important: homesickness.

I have been living for five months in the United States and have learned a lot of things like English, a little bit more about leadership and other things. I have learned how to live alone. This part is so hard for me, because in NPH I have always lived with lots of people and had people around me. Sometimes here I stay at home alone and it makes me sad and I don’t know what to do.

Also, I have been in so many places. Seattle is a wonderful city. It has huge buildings, lots of trees and is a clean city. However, there is one thing that I don’t like: rain. It rains all the time and when it’s sunny is a miracle for me. I am studying English and I love the college. There are a lot of people from different parts of the world. Most of them are from Asia. It is so interesting to talk with them and learn about new cultures and learn words in different languages.

I am living with a host family, they have been my godparents for a few years and of course, they are a wonderful family. I have my own bedroom, desk, food and so many distractions like games, but even if I have a lot of things I still miss my family, NPH. It doesn’t matter how much I have, I still miss my friends because I have grown with them. They are my family, they are my life and they are everything for me. The first thing I remember when I am sad is them. Presently, I am so excited about going back to Guatemala and seeing my family again because I miss the noise, the children, my country, everything.

For me, happiness is not the things I have. Happiness is my family, it is helping them, sharing with them and loving them.

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