Title
Document Type
Undergraduate Student Scholarship
Publication Date
5-13-2019
Instructor
George Faithful, PhD
Course Number
Hono 3190
Course Name
Honors World Religions
Abstract
“Never waste your food,” my parents recited again at the dinner table. They continued, “If we had this much food growing up in the Philippines, we’d be so blessed. Please don’t take it for granted.” Throughout my childhood, nearly every family meal consisted of this conversation. My parents seized every opportunity to remind me of their early impoverished life in the Philippines. Their stories increasingly strengthened my gratitude for the life my brother and I were born into. Having back aches from stiff bamboo beds, depending on conveniently-priced junk food as nutrition, and rationing small portions among large families—these circumstances generated the everyday reality for my parents growing up in the province of Ilocos Sur. Still, the most difficult part for me is openly accepting that this reality isn’t only their past, but it is many people’s present.
Included in
Civic and Community Engagement Commons, Community-Based Learning Commons, Family, Life Course, and Society Commons, Service Learning Commons, Sociology of Culture Commons, Sociology of Religion Commons