Reflection of Citizenship
If you take a gondola or vaporetto ride down the Grand Canal, you might pass by an off-white little house. It has many windows with brightly colored flower boxes and a little wooden dock to itself. You can see this house from the Academia Bridge; so consequently, it can be found in the background of many tourists’ photos. It is located in Dorsoduro and sits beside the Guggenheim Museum. Most people during their stay in Venice may not even notice this house, and if they do, probably just consider it to be like any other house along the Grand Canal. In Donofrio’s theory, she discusses the differentiation of a place from a space; a space turns into a place when you give it meaning. This house, Casa Artom, is not just another space in Venice to me. It has become a place of great importance and a place I now consider to be my home. My experiences in Casa Artom have taught me many examples of how to be a good citizen. What stands out to me most isn’t any one particular example of citizenship, but an accumulation of tiny acts of citizenship and kindness throughout the semester. The recent Thanksgiving dinner is a perfect example of how the Casa Artom family worked together as citizens of the house to achieve something great.
Since none of us were able to go home for Thanksgiving, we decided to have a Thanksgiving or “Friendsgiving” here in Casa Artom. Our RA Shelby showed great leadership and organized a Thanksgiving dinner to be hosted by Casa Artom for the students, faculty, and staff. Each one of us worked hard to make a dish, help set up, or contribute something to the Thanksgiving dinner. It was a way of bringing a little bit each person’s traditions to share with everyone in the house. I was impressed by how everyone worked diligently to complete their dish in their allotted time slot that Shelby had prepared. During my time slot I was signed up to make apple pies. It was so nice that a few of my classmates volunteered to help me peel apples and make the crust for my pies. It was a small act, but one that saved me a lot of time. In addition, it allowed me to share a piece of my family’s Thanksgiving traditions with some members of the house. Overall, each person’s small contribution made the Thanksgiving dinner a great success.
After our Thanksgiving meal everyone in the house worked late to help clean up so our housekeepers Cheti and Kristi would not have to in the morning. A few hours of work from each person saved them a lot of time and effort. I was happy to hear that Kristi commented on how clean the house was and how he was pleasantly surprised he did not have to clean up or move chairs the following day. It made me proud to know my housemates and I were able to make Thanksgiving a success and also realize how tiny acts of kindness can make a person feel appreciated. This ideal is something that I would really like to become more aware of and better incorporate into my life when I return to Wake Forest.
I would like to make more of an effort to do small acts of kindness for people back at home. I have seen how just taking a small part of your day to do something for someone else can make someone feel appreciated or what great things it can accomplish. It doesn’t have to be something big, such as working together to plan a Thanksgiving dinner, but just doing something small to make someone’s day better. In addition, I think that doing small acts of kindness makes you more invested in your surroundings and help brings meaning to a space. I would argue that this is a reason that Casa Artom has become such a special place to me.
I often worry that when I return to Wake Forest next semester it will seem just like a space where I go to school instead of a place I call home. I am going to be living in a dorm I am not familiar with in a school that has changed since I was last on campus. There are about 1,000 new freshman students that I do not know and that have changed the dynamic of campus. I hope that I can take my experiences of citizenship from Casa Artom and apply them to my citizenship on Wake’s campus, so that when I return, once again, Wake will be a place I can call home.
Since none of us were able to go home for Thanksgiving, we decided to have a Thanksgiving or “Friendsgiving” here in Casa Artom. Our RA Shelby showed great leadership and organized a Thanksgiving dinner to be hosted by Casa Artom for the students, faculty, and staff. Each one of us worked hard to make a dish, help set up, or contribute something to the Thanksgiving dinner. It was a way of bringing a little bit each person’s traditions to share with everyone in the house. I was impressed by how everyone worked diligently to complete their dish in their allotted time slot that Shelby had prepared. During my time slot I was signed up to make apple pies. It was so nice that a few of my classmates volunteered to help me peel apples and make the crust for my pies. It was a small act, but one that saved me a lot of time. In addition, it allowed me to share a piece of my family’s Thanksgiving traditions with some members of the house. Overall, each person’s small contribution made the Thanksgiving dinner a great success.
After our Thanksgiving meal everyone in the house worked late to help clean up so our housekeepers Cheti and Kristi would not have to in the morning. A few hours of work from each person saved them a lot of time and effort. I was happy to hear that Kristi commented on how clean the house was and how he was pleasantly surprised he did not have to clean up or move chairs the following day. It made me proud to know my housemates and I were able to make Thanksgiving a success and also realize how tiny acts of kindness can make a person feel appreciated. This ideal is something that I would really like to become more aware of and better incorporate into my life when I return to Wake Forest.
I would like to make more of an effort to do small acts of kindness for people back at home. I have seen how just taking a small part of your day to do something for someone else can make someone feel appreciated or what great things it can accomplish. It doesn’t have to be something big, such as working together to plan a Thanksgiving dinner, but just doing something small to make someone’s day better. In addition, I think that doing small acts of kindness makes you more invested in your surroundings and help brings meaning to a space. I would argue that this is a reason that Casa Artom has become such a special place to me.
I often worry that when I return to Wake Forest next semester it will seem just like a space where I go to school instead of a place I call home. I am going to be living in a dorm I am not familiar with in a school that has changed since I was last on campus. There are about 1,000 new freshman students that I do not know and that have changed the dynamic of campus. I hope that I can take my experiences of citizenship from Casa Artom and apply them to my citizenship on Wake’s campus, so that when I return, once again, Wake will be a place I can call home.