Before the First Class

READ

• The Paramis – An Historical Background
  
• The Legend of Avalokiteshvara
  
• What is a Chaplain?
  
• Action + Reflection = Learning

IDENTITY BOX: EXERCISE TO PREPARE

People’s identities are made up of internal and external selves. The external self is what others see; the internal self is what we know to be true about ourselves.  This activity will explore how others see you, or your external self, and how you see yourself, your internal self.  This is a learning exercise of introducing oneself and practice in ‘meeting the stranger’ — which is a primary skill for chaplains.

Get a box —  any type of box (cardboard, shoe, tissue, etc.); on the outside: place your name(s), photos and images and words to introduce yourself; on the inside: place photos and images and words and actual objects that are about your inner self and what you would like others to know about you at this point in time. Not everything, just a few important things. At the first class you will present your box to a small group, explaining the meaning behind the images, objects, etc. and together you will explore the similarities and differences of how a person sees themselves  and how others perceive them.

Here are some prompts for inside the box aspect of assignment:

– One important thing to happen to me is:
– I am proud of:
– Something that makes me happy is:
– I work hard at doing:
– My favorite book/movie/musical is:
– The funniest thing that ever happened to me was:
– As a chaplain in training, I want to:
– My favorite place to go is:
– My hobbies are:
– One of my dreams is to:
– Something I want you to know about me is:
– Five words that describe me:
– Five words that others would use to describe me:
– Something that:
– – – makes me happy:
– – – makes me sad:
– – – makes me nervous:
– – – makes me mad:
– – – makes me laugh:
– – – makes me embarrassed:

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