Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! Enjoy your time with family and friends!

Nov

20

Experiences as a Youth

Filed Under Barack Obama, Election 2008 | Leave a Comment

Experience, we all have it. Over the past few days, experience has become a more hotly contested issue in the 2008 Presidential Race.

I think our experiences as a youth matter a tremendous deal in shaping who we are, the values we hold and the beliefs we maintain about the nature of our fellow human. Growing up, I remember when Ramon’s (my older brother) friend was told he couldn’t cross the main street (4 lane main street instead of a 2 lane side street) because it was dangerous or something to that effect.

Robert, his name is, was my brother’s age, so I was confused as to why I, someone younger, could cross the street but he couldn’t. I suppose my parents didn’t realize I was regularly running across four lanes of asphalt at such as young age. (They probably still aren’t aware, but I will be sure to confess to them when I get home for Thanksgiving. ;-))

At first, I wasn’t afraid of running across the street; I eagerly did it to follow my brother, but also to play Super Nintendo at Mason’s (another friend of my brother) house. But, for whatever reason, after I heard Robert’s mom tell him he couldn’t, I was hesitant. After enough coxing from my brother, I ran across the street anyway, always certain to follow the advice my parent’s to look both ways.

I was reminded of that experience when I read a day ago that Senator Barack Obama mentioned that his time in Indonesia as a child helped him develop a greater appreciation of cultures and understanding about how others may view the United States as invaluable experience to him as an individual and as President.

Following, Senator Hillary Clinton pointed out such experience as a youth does not matter because it ignores the complexity of things. I have a simple retort to her claim: sometimes somethings just are not that complicated nor do they need to be.

International relations may seem like something beyond the minds of some, but in reality, it is not. Like anything, how someone performs in any realm of human interaction, from the individual to the global level, depends on how they communicate with, how they relate to, how they appreciate, how they disagree with and how they judge character, heart and intentions of the other person. In other words, strong inter-personal communication skills and sound judgment are key to interacting with others.

Senator Obama’s childhood is rich and varied. He has crossed social, economic and political boundaries at a young age and interacted with a wide array of individuals, societies and cultures, whether those of Southeast Asia or Midwest America; this is the kind of experience our next President must have and only Senator Obama has it.