Speaker reaction paper
What are the main points of discussion or main arguments that you gleaned from this speaker?
I found different meaningful points on both a historical level and a personal level. She gave details in great depth about the happenings during the holocaust, but also gave some very insightful advice! She discussed some of the many struggles her family had to come across to survive, and even though I personally am probably never going to experience something at that level of pain, it still can carry over to my life! I can see that where I’m at isn’t such a bad place after all, and that if I try hard enough I can get through too. Also, she spoke of kindness in general. At one point she stated that “you can murder with the mouth over and over again, but with a gun it only takes once”. This really got me thinking about compassion and how if everybody was compassionate we would never have issues like genocide and hate crimes. Also, that made me want to help in some way, but I realized that before I help the world that I must fix myself. I can only teach compassion if I understand it myself. I really liked that I had no ideas about what we were going to talk about because I had no preconceived notions and came in with an open mind!
What developmental events or issues of note did you recognize during this presentation?
A part of her story really haunts my mind…The part about the German Shepards trained to hurt the Jewish people and how she can never get over it. I believe that the horror of the dogs must have harmed her emotional development.
Name one point or argument you agreed with and give your reasons.
At one point she stated “unless you raise your enemy to your level, don’t let them drag you down”. I loved this! I completely agreed with this because in any scenario with negativity, you must not let the bad things bring you down. You can’t get anywhere with baggage, so you have to let go of the negativity.
Name one point or argument you disagreed with and give your reasons.
Nothing! I absolutely agreed with her. I loved her presentation and it really affected me! I want to be a better person so I can help other people be compassionate too!
What surprised you, made you think, or made you want to do more research and give your reasons.
The whole presentation was a surprise! I had no idea that the seminar was about the holocaust and Elaine Gellar was a phenomenal speaker! She was so inspirational and I learned so much from her. I want to learn more about myself, because I think that through self-discovery I could become more compassionate and help others learn to be more compassionate.
So, if someone can pull through with such unspeakable circumstances, surely we can do it too! Appreciate life with the blessings we have, and to make a difference in the world we must first make a difference in ourselves!
