♥ change hearts

Beauty of Bioethics

It is both strange and exciting how the things I learned in my bioethics classes pop up everywhere in my life. And its not just in my life. They are the kinds of things that permeate everyone’s lives.

I am so grateful that I chose to study bioethics because not only I am able to understand and analyze these situations in a better way (and help others to do so); I have also learned to appreciate them more fully and for what they truly are.

So, you are going to change the world?

I would say that one of the most common responses I get when I tell people I am joining the Peace Corps is “So you’re going to change the world?”. I never quite know how to respond to this comment. My response is usually just a hesitant “yes”. But what I really feel like saying is: “Well don’t you want to change the world too?!”.

There is not just one way to ‘change the world’ or ‘make a difference’. It’s strange that traveling to a third world country seems to some people to be the only thing worthy of the label: ‘changing the world’. Maybe this is because it is extreme; a big gesture. But people change the world in small ways everyday. St. Therese is one of my favorite saints and her ‘little way’ was a call to do good and be holy in the ordinary and everyday situations of life. Following the ‘little way’ has always been a huge struggle for me, not in actual execution but in the way I feel. It never feels like enough. I guess I have always felt called to ‘something big’. I truly admire those who work in little ways because those are quite often the things that people remember and are affected by most. So, come on people! Join me in ‘changing the world’…maybe you already are.

The Hunger Games and Bioethics

I am a Hunger Games fan. There are several reasons I love these stories. First of all, they came just in the knick of time to save adolescents from the Twilight series. The main character is a strong female. They are well-written, and easy and addicting to read. Finally, they have a deeper meaning if you want them to.

The recent release of the movie and a re-read of the first book in the series has led me to reflect a little on the lessons this series can teach. There are the more obvious ones like the warnings against totalitarian societies, or warnings against where our world could be heading. But the thing I really found interesting were the parts of the book that shed light on the way our world already is. The contrast between the people of the Capitol and those of District 12 is remarkably similar to gap that exists between the rich and the poor in some countries and in our world overall. In one part of the book Katniss reflects on this contrast: “They do surgery in the Capitol, to make people appear younger and thinner. In District 12, looking old is something of an achievement since so many people die early. You see an elder person, you want to congratulate them on their longevity, ask the secret of survival. A plump person is envied because they aren’t scraping by like the majority of us. But here it is different. Wrinkles aren’t desirable. A round belly isn’t a sign of success.” This quote couldn’t be more applicable to the world we live in.

I know I have reflected on the contrast between the rich and the poor in our world before, but I really think that The Hunger Games gives a fresh perspective. You are rooting for Katniss throughout the book. You may even wish to be like her. So naturally you find yourself hating the Capitol and many of the people in it. When (and if) you make the connections I did above, you may realize that the life you currently live is much more similar to the people of the Capitol than to the heroine you having been cheering for. This realization is jolting, but it’s the kind of jolt many people need.