Rest in Peace Joe Paterno

As we all know, this past week, the Penn State community was dealt another severe blow with the death of former football coach, Joe Paterno. While the circumstances of Paterno's passing were heartbreaking, to say the least, his death also signified, not only his greatness as a person, but the significant impact he had on so many people. Immediately following the news of his passing, kind words of condolence, images, videos and even events could be found on social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter. In essence, Paterno's passing acted as a rhetorical exigence, which drew people in and inspired them to respond in their own respective ways.
On Facebook, students created events such as the candle light vigil at Old Main, "Guide Joe Home" along Curtin Road and "Last White Out for Joe Paterno" on the Monday following his passing. It was clear that it did not matter if students knew Paterno personally, met him once before on a whim, were avid football fans or never even attended a game. To the Penn State community, there was an "issue" that need to be addressed: How can we honor Joe Paterno? What was more astounding was how many people attended all of these events, not to mention the two public viewings held in the Pasquerilla Spiritual Center. A shockwave quickly moved throughout the community to find any and every way to honor our beloved coach. More importantly,  there was a sense of urgency for the Penn State community to unite and mourn as a family. Through coming together as one, we're able to lift one another up during this troubling time. It's great because this sense of family seemed to be very important to Mr. Paterno.
Speaking from personal experience, I didn't come to Penn State for football. I've never really been much of a football fan and to be honest, I never even attended a football game during my first semester. Yet, even I was deeply moved by the passing of Mr. Paterno. As I walk from the Pattee and Paterno libraries, or attend honors classes in an effort to become a Paterno Fellow, I'm reminded of the investments Mr. Paterno has made in this university beyond being a football coach. Although at first I did not want to attend the processional, I was so glad that something within me moved me to stay to see Mr. Paterno's hearse drive by. There was something within me that made me want to "respond" to call to honor Mr. Paterno. And quite honestly, I am so honored that I did.
What were some of the ways you honored Mr. Paterno? What were your reasons for participating in these events? Were you a football fan or moved by the circumstances of his passing as I was?




Photo taken by Ben Jones of SN Nation Newsletters



"I Have A Dream" That People Will Stand Up!



Penn State Live

Rather than sleeping in late or procrastinating on starting my homework on our day off to honor Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., I decided to participate in Penn State's Day of Service. Approximately 400 or so students willingly volunteered to help others in the community and to me, it was one of the first times I felt a pressing sense of civic engagement here at Penn State. Yeah, I know a lot tends to go on at this campus and there are probably plenty of opportunities to participate in other forms of civic engagement, such as open forums, other volunteer efforts and the like, but what struck me the most about the day of service was the vast number of students who decided that their responsibility to help others superseded their own desire to waste the day away.

I found the day of service to be such a rewarding experience. Granted, I was assigned to work in the woods of the Arboretum and required to move some cut down foreign invader trees from a certain area but yet and still, I was appreciative of the experience. It felt great to know that I played an active role in helping our community and I am now inspired to do more.

Often times, we have a tendency of doing things for others with the expectation that something will be done for us in return. However, I can truly say that I did not want or need anything in return for the work I put in on this day of service. The benefit of meeting other students and people from the State College community was awesome enough to me. Yeah, we groaned and complained a bit as we walked over to the Arboretum in the cold weather and soon thereafter learned that we would be working outside for some 2 or 3 hours but in the end, our work spoke for itself and we were all able to say we actually enjoyed the experience. I just hope to become more heavily involved in other volunteer efforts here on campus and in the community because I believe these efforts are a fantastic way to exercise more than just one form of civic engagement.