Call to Action: Treasure Island

Christian Mirto 

Professor Andrews 

World History II

26 March 2015

Call to Action Day: Treasure Island 

Today was my first time participating on Call to Action Day, given that it is my second year, here at NDNU. There were about eight of us who traveled to San Francisco to work with middle school students at the Treasure Island Sailing Center. This volunteer event was a pretty desired activity since we were supposed to go sailing on the San Francisco Bay. I was very excited to be able to go sailing for my first time in Northern California, however not excited for our 7:30 am check in time. Since I stayed up until four in the morning, I had a rude awakening the next day. 

Once I got up out of bed, the check in was in the quad and we then split into two groups, to travel in the one of the many rental SUV’s. This gave me a great opportunity to take a power nap, and once I opened my eyes we were at the Treasure Island Naval Base. We got to sailing center and were all just waiting on the middle school students from San Bruno. The kids were all in seventh grade, and were in the very beginning of their teenage years. I personally wanted to work with kids a bit younger, maybe at the fifth grade level, because middle school students have more of annoying attitude. I mean the younger kids can get out of hand, but they still have a grasp on their innocence. But all of this didn't matter because we were all excited to go sailing. Unfortunately, there were too many kids attending and we exceeded the boat capacity so none of the NDNU volunteers were even able to go on the sailboat. We all felt a bit bummed out by it, but instead we stayed in the classroom to work with the kids while the other group went out on the sailboat. 

In the classroom, we started off with teaching the kids how to use a compass. This happened to be a learning experience for me, as well as the kids. We were then given maps with riddles, and had to have the compass point north, then turn the dial to the needed degree to solve the mystery location. After that, the two facilitators of the classroom gave us a lesson about the sea breeze. Based on the sun heating the Pacific Ocean, this is the cause of the fog that is existent during the summer. Thus, making the Sacramento Valley much much hotter since it is farther inland. After, the instructors had a windmill model and explained to the kids how it conducts electricity and energy for cities. The also explained how the design of the large windmills must be far into the valleys away from cities, since they need space to turn there large fan wings. For our last activity, we needed to work with the kids to make little sail cars. Each group was given straws, four lifesaver mints, paper clips, tape, and paper. The goal was to design a sail-powered car that will travel the farthest when the fan blows against it. We had thirty minutes to design them and at the end we were all going to race them, to see who had the most successful design. The race was not based on speed, but distance, and this definitely had to be the highlight of the day. You could feel the amount of competition that the kids were feeling, and even us students from NDNU were starting to get into it as well. So we lined up all the sail cars, had our test runs, and we were now ready for the race. The instructor turned on the fan and some sail cars started to go in opposite directions, and some even just fell over. The group I worked with got second place, and was just a few inches away from the farthest sail car. This was the highlight of the day because everyone was fully invested and everyone was cheering each other on.

This Call to Action Day may have been a let down since we weren’t even able to go sailing, however we still got to learn some new things and interact with the middle school kids. As a group we made the best of it and had a cute little lunch sitting on the dock of the bay. However, we did find out about other sailing events at Treasure Island, so it all just takes a trip back if we want to experience sailboating. 

Catholic Teachings: Colonial Development

Colonization brought on wealth to European cultures, yet as as a result left countries to suffer in poverty. Exploitation was placed on people through resource deprivation as well as the brutal practices of the slave trade. With Europeans as the facilitators of superpower imperialism, they also brought religious leaders with their many soldiers and explorers, to help spread Christianity on their lands of conquest. However, what those religious leaders lacked to shed light was the injustices they brought onto nations. In turn, Protestant and Catholic missionaries played a large role in being vocal about of the abusive injustices that were steadily being practiced during European colonialism. Reading through this chapter gave me a sense of the corruption that many Sisters of NDNU help eradicate. The Catholic social teachings help serve as a foundation to unite us to a single human race, despite the many heterogenous groups of our world. This opened the blinds for people to be aware of the impoverished lands, that were blocked for many generation by the growing wealth from early capitalism. 

Being aware of the social injustices throughout history is an important characteristic relative to our contemporary time. How the “thirst for power” affected the masses of populations through greed over profit. There are many evils that are practiced today in a similar capitalistic way, which as a result also contribute to global poverty. Catholic teachings may seem restrictive when practiced devotionally, however the practices are characterized by the dedication to charity and philanthropy. 

European Colonization

In Europe, industrialization and imperialism were very much hand in hand. When resources became scarce in one country, they could be acquired in a new country. With Europeans being the primary facilitators of this revolution, this caused a new way they viewed themselves, as well was other cultures. Although Europeans had a sense of superiority, it is important to note that they took influence from different societies. Europeans mixed with cultures like China and India which were considered to be less technologically advanced, thus placing a title on them known as “noble savages.” The Europeans definitely thought highly of themselves, so once they have set a tall personal standard, it becomes easy to see others as inferior. These thoughts help normalize racism and prejudice against cultures that were different, making Europeans ethnocentric. In terms of Social Darwinism, with thoughts of superiority, war and aggressive imperialism seemed normative, allowing only the strong to survive. With colonial empires arising, the concept of education was relative to prestige. Those born into wealth and privilege were obviously more likely to have a strong education, which left those who were illiterate or native to be considered as primitive. 

Overall, I find the colonization of empires to be positive, due to the flourishing of societies. People  learned to apply themselves by using science to stimulate economy, establish hierarchies and form societies. However, it is hard to be proud of the racism that was strongly accepted during this time. Where even racism was broken down to a science, making white men to be normally referred to as master, while grown men of african descent were referred to as boys. Today’s sense of equality is tarnished from these origins and although we have come a long way, it is important to know how people were treated in the past, due to what they were born with, their race.