Every journey that a person has in
their lifetime is associated with some sort of pain. Whether this pain be
physical or emotional, one must endeavor to overcome it. Think of the journeys
you have encountered during your life. I can guarantee you that the most
memorable journeys are associated with some sort of pain or hardship. Perhaps
the greatest life lessons I have learned have come from coping with emotional and physical hardship. The Satere-Mawe people of Brazil
have an initiation rite in which young men place their hand in a glove filled
with bullet ants. They endure the excruciating pain of the ant’s bites for a
full 10 minutes. Their hand and arm become temporarily paralyzed by the ant’s
venom. Chances are that they will remember this scarring experience for the
rest of their lives. However, the sense of pride and accomplishment that comes
with this initiation rite surpasses the physical and emotional damage.
Actions
ALWAYS speak louder than words. Perhaps the most profound lessons are learned
using pain. What better way to get your point across?
As I read the passage, I distinctly recalled why I had written it seven months earlier. One Thursday afternoon, I was sitting in my Orientation Leader class, fully aware that this was my last class of the day and anticipating relaxing and grabbing a bite to eat in the near future. I was told we were to hear from a guest speaker that day named Michael Sexon. I had never met Dr. Sexson before, but I had heard that in the previous year he managed to give an entire hour lecture on Mylie Cyrus to the Orientation Leaders. Needless to say, I was intrigued.
He began his lecture by explaining that the circumstances in which he was teaching us were not ideal. Ideally, he would have walked from desk to desk with a bucket and, stopping at each desk, he would clip off a small portion of each student's earlobe. I imagine the pain would be sharp, but bearable, and would leave a lasting scar. He went on to explain that every time someone would ask what happened to our earlobes, we would distinctly recall that Thursday afternoon when Michael Sexson visited our Orientation Leader class. He went on to explain the initiation rite of the Satere-Mawe people that I wrote about in my passage.
It was bold, to say the least, but I believe that was Dr. Sexson's way of making us remember. Perhaps his techniques were not as effective as he was hoping, because I only vaguely remember the contents of the remainder of his lecture. Among these were an explanation of the root of the word orient and a reading from The Conference of Birds (which I later discovered was added to the Texts and Critics curriculum thanks to Jerrod). Nonetheless, the first five minutes of Dr. Sexson's lecture seemed to have a profound effect on me.
Dr. Sexson's lecture got me thinking, and it was apparent that what he was saying was directly related to the culture that I am a part of. As a member of a sorority on campus, we are held to strict standards and regulations, one of those being a zero tolerance policy for hazing. I've heard a lot of horror stories about the dangers of hazing and how fraternity men having even died due to hazing-related accidents. I can confidently say that I have never been hazed or hazed another person, but what Dr. Sexson had in mind sounded awfully similar to hazing. It started to make a little bit of sense. After all, after looking back on my life, many of the most memorable moments have been associated with physical or mental hardship. Have you ever noticed most people can distinctly recall where they were and what they were doing the day of 9/11/2001? It's because the hardship associated with September 11th is ingrained within their memory. That being said, if one wants to instill in their pledges their sorority's core values so that they may better understand their importance, perhaps this should be coupled with some form of challenge or even pain. Perhaps this is what the founders of Greek organizations had in mind. To clarify, I still believe that in many instances, hazing becomes excessive and I still do not agree with it as a practice (partly because it's illegal), but I recognize it as an effective tactic in making sure the lesson one is teaching will never be forgotten. That is not an easy task to undertake.
After skimming the file, I deemed it important enough to be spared from the recycle bin and continued to scroll through documents...
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