Introduction.
Fundamentally, every nation boasts of its citizens. The word citizen connotes to the individuals or rather occupants of a specific nation that are often entitled to the benefits and privileges of a particular country. The cited individuals get habitually regarded as legal members of a specific country. In the United States, citizens are regarded and treated with utmost reverence by the state. The mentioned is because; the citizens form the backbone of the country’s growth by significantly contributing the desired skilled personnel. Citizens often engage in myriad activities that explicitly reveal their citizenship. Most importantly, the dedicated government of president Obama greatly acknowledges the citizens by endowing them with any relevant support needed for positive development. Being a United States citizen is undoubtedly a privilege and extremely essential. Categorically, United States of America constitutes of myriad states that admirably relate and most importantly cooperate with each other. The cited cooperation is often through the citizenry. Colorado being one of the states in this great republic ours; it was wise to explore its environment. Through exploitation of its environment, it was necessary to engage in myriad activities that transpire in the localities of Colorado. Typically, the paper endeavors to explore explicitly on what it signifies or means to be a Colorado citizen.Experience.
Categorically, in order to perfectly comprehend the meaning of being a citizen in Colorado, in relation to the course content, it involved engaging is myriad activities. Essentially, to be part and parcel of the mentioned state, there was an involvement in voluntary services at a nonprofit locality. Specifically, I resorted to render my voluntary services by working as at a soup kitchen for the day. The mentioned soup kitchen connotes to one of the most prestigious and eventful hotels in the Colorado Denver. Principally, despite having distinct roles at the kitchen, the major role served was to receive dollar payments after each service from a client. Notably, there were innumerable numbers of people entering and evacuating at the same time. Each and every customer or rather client who left the place was extraordinarily happy. The major reason for this was because of the quality services that got rendered in the orderly place. Customers got treated with the utmost esteem. For instance, at the entrance they got ushered by providing a bottle of drinking water and subsequently shown where to sit. Prevalently, respect being the two way traffic as it is stipulated, the clients too exercised the essential virtue. Illustratively, they responded to the employees with decency and plausible admiration. The cited respect was a clear sign of an element of citizenship in the hotel. The culture in the cited place was a diversified one. Typically, there existed individuals with different languages and complexion. It was however notable that each and every client experienced equal treatment. There existed translators who could communicate with the diverse cultures. The mentioned translators made communication effective and efficient. Conclusively, the extensive place was devoid of communication barrier. Undoubtedly, this was a clear sign of citizenship since value got granted without bias (Barry, 2001).
Industry and dedication were evident in the place. The nonprofit locality had its employees perform. Vividly, the workers were entirely hands on, and one could hardly notice an idling employee. Each and every employee had a significant role to perform and as a matter of fact; the cited duties got executed with immeasurable professionalism. Notably, Philip Crosby, one of the renowned quality gurus categorically demonstrated that the quality was a free. The mentioned quality was undeniably present in the mentioned soup kitchen. Additionally, for every organization to prosper, there exist well-defined rules and regulations to get followed. The nonprofit soup kitchen possessed a number of strict regulations. The cited regulations significantly controlled the actions of the employees. Also, the cited regulations got in line with the United States labor laws. The mentioned was clear evidence that the nonprofit soup kitchen adhered to the policies of the nations. Rules and regulations are essential for the conduct of the citizens, by either prohibiting or permitting. Seemingly, individuals or rather clients in the soup kitchen tend to understand the regulations so well and were extremely vigilant not to interfere with any lest they become an enemy of the state. The cited argument categorically got related to the course content.
Identification of employees or members of the soup kitchen entity did not prove to be challenging. The members had uniform attire coupled with similar behaviors. Additionally, their culture of quick and instant services to the public was another plus to their identification. Prevalently, the cited employees of the soup kitchen experienced a plausible gender balance. The numbers of male compared to female employees were approximately at par. In fact, the employees exclaimed that that was the best entity that regarded employees’ needs with priority (Lister, 2005). Typically, the suggested was clear social aspect of citizenship. As a volunteer in a soup kitchen, it was evident that the clients most of the clients recognized the employees of the entity. The reason being, some clients persistently inquired whether I was a new employee because my presence was not familiar. One of the responsible employees categorically explained my presence, and they got delighted informing me to adopt and emulate the style of leadership and services that existed. Funnily, the clients had no idea that this individual was here for a day and furthermore as a volunteer. At the end of the operation, in the evening, employees had a prompt meeting to evaluate on their day’s performance. The mentioned was a clear sign of employee dedication and value of the nonprofit soup kitchen.
Definition of citizen after the experience.
Most importantly, after the experience, there arose myriad definitions of what citizen was. In spite of the myriad definitions, it was essential to highlight the basic five points with regards to history definition. First, due to respect that emanated in the soup kitchen, I could explicitly define a citizen. The cited definition would be; individual or a rather individuals who show the utmost respect to each other while ensuring the preservation of one other’s boundaries. Secondly, due to the evident equality in the nonprofit entity, being a citizen connotes to the act of showing humanity to individual diversities by exercising equal treatment and consideration. Thirdly, there existed industry in the soup kitchen. For the mentioned industry, it could be genuine to define citizen as the act of relentlessly working hard to deliver quality services to the nation, thereby, contributing to the positive growth and development of the nation. Typically, due to the obedience and following of rules and regulations in the nonprofit entity, a citizen would get defined. The definition would be, the act of an individual being submissive by upholding the rules and regulations stipulated by the law. Finally, my experience as a volunteer with regards to the definition of citizen would mean; an individual or people who willingly offer their services to assist in the development of state regardless of their position. Also, a citizen would mean an individual who is willing to embrace any challenge to perform an activity without being choosy of a position.Importance of learning citizen definition.
Citizen definition is an essential subject that would undoubtedly assist in the execution of specific roles in the society. Typically, by comprehending the social aspect of citizenship, and individual would know the explicit moral values and cultural behaviors that get expected from him/her. The social aspect of citizen connotes to accepted codes of conduct. Through the proper definition of citizenship, an individual would be able to establish well. Additionally, through the learning of citizen definition, an individual would most importantly be conscious of what gets expected of him. Expectations include the roles, responsibilities, and how the mentioned duties are to get executed according to the law. Additionally, through the knowledge of citizenship, one would know the political aspects of the mentioned citizenship and would, therefore, strive to achieve political ambitions. Finally, by properly defining citizenship, an individual would be able to comprehend and evaluate the legal status of being a citizen and also being treated as a citizen. Through the identification of the legal status of citizenship, an individual would know what it takes to be considered an outright citizen of a specified nation or state (Einfeld & Collins, 2008).Reflection of citizen.
Emphatically, with regards to the course content, the voluntary activity in the kitchen soup nonprofit entity greatly reflects. For instance, during the activity, I vividly comprehended that by the exercise of hard work coupled with dedication, success would be achieved. The achieved success would also go hand in hand with respect. Therefore, by showing respect and hard work, the social aspect of citizenship got revealed. With regards to the earlier definition, respect, and hard work are vital components of a citizen. Thus, through industry and reverence, a reflection of citizenship was crystal clear. Being a citizen involves showing equity and concern of each other. The mentioned was evident in the nonprofit entity on how clients got treated. Categorically, equity prevailed and in citizenship, equity is often essential eyesight (Barry, 2001). Therefore, the cited was a distinct reflection of citizenship. Notably, there existed rules and regulations that got followed to the latter. An essential element of being a citizen is often following the stipulated guidelines. Activities in the entity got performed and the stipulated rules. The cited culminated into the legal aspects of operations that are often fundamental. The following of rules was a clear reflection of a good citizen.
Primarily, the cited activity greatly compared to the history of civic engagement and social justice presented in the class. Illustratively, with regards to social justice, both emphasized on equity and mutual understanding of one other whilst eliminating discriminatory aspects in the society and accommodating diversity. Also, compared to the civic engagement, both the activities demonstrated the legal aspects of the law coupled with extraordinary industry (Lister, 2005). Both considered law or rather regulations as essentials to any legal operations of a citizen.Conclusion
References
Barry, B. (2001). Culture and Equality. An Egalitarian Critique of Multiculturalism, Cambridge: Harvard University Press.
Einfeld, A., & Collins, D. (2008).The Relationships Between Service-Learning, Social Justice, Multicultural Competence, and Civic Engagement. Journal of College Student Development,49, n.p.
Lister, M. (2005). Marshall-ing’ Social and Political Citizenship: Towards a Unified Conception of Citizenship. Government and Opposition, 40, 471–492.
