Delbarton Memories #3

Throughout my Delbarton experience, I have been blessed with the opportunity to take many enriching and enlightening courses. In particular, I have found that the Theology courses offered at Delbarton have been among the most enriching and inspiring to me in my everyday life. With my passion for Theology, I have enjoyed classes like “Benedictines”, “Genocides Studies”, “Prophets”, and “Ethics”. All of these courses have added substantially to not only in my educational endeavors but to my faith as well. One course that particularly impacted me was “Genocides Studies” with Ms. Loveday. Going into the course I was anxious since the course was commonly known as incredibly challenging and rigorous. Despite these rumors I came into the class confident that I would succeed.

Throughout the course, I was exposed to psychological issues, texts about the history of genocide, and personal accounts of such persecution. One text that particularly impacted me was “Left to Tell” by Immaculee llibagiza. This personal account of the Rwanda Genocide, tells the story of Immaculee’s persecution and journey through hiding, in a spiritual and reflective manner. Immaculee describes how through pain and suffering, one can grow closer to God. Through her persecution, Immaculee gained a new perspective of the world and a new perspective of her faith. The “Genocides Studies” course exposes students to the harsh realities of human history, and how in pain and persecution one can see the face of God. This ideology might be challenging to understand to someone who has not taken the course since it is challenging for everyday humans to find God’s loving presence and face in light of pain and sorrow. Ms. Loveday helped us gain this new perspective on human life, through the power of words and conversation. This course is easily one the best and most fulfilling courses I ever took during my Delbarton experience. I still discuss topics from the course and recommend books like “Left to Tell” and the Elie Wiesel’s “Night Trilogy”. I am deeply thankful to have been given the opportunity to take this course in my sophomore year, and I can’t wait to continue my Theological pursuits in my future endeavors.