{"id":2751,"date":"2017-12-10T22:39:58","date_gmt":"2017-12-11T03:39:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.butler.edu\/wits\/?p=2751"},"modified":"2017-12-10T22:39:58","modified_gmt":"2017-12-11T03:39:58","slug":"all-it-takes-is-a-bit-of-time-and-an-open-ear","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.butler.edu\/wits\/all-it-takes-is-a-bit-of-time-and-an-open-ear\/","title":{"rendered":"‘ALL IT TAKES IS A BIT OF TIME AND AN OPEN EAR’"},"content":{"rendered":"

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It seems strange to me that the simplest things are those that we often forget. How easy is it, really, to just listen? As it turns out, it\u2019s not so simple. Every day that I have spent at Broad Ripple has been loud, hectic, wildly engaging (assuredly these are all good things) and the students I have had the wonderful opportunity to work with have, without exception, been bright, intelligent, and creative beyond all expectations. Each one of these students has something to say that is absolutely worth listening to.<\/p>\n

Of course, that\u2019s not nearly as simple as it sounds. It\u2019s so easy to turn off, to disengage and simply nod along. It\u2019s not so easy to actual build on what\u2019s going on in our students\u2019 heads. Listening and speaking have taken on many forms at Butler Writers; some kids will barely utter a word to you, while others can talk at you for hours without taking a breath. But listening takes much more than just having a conversation. These kids are passionate but also painfully aware that their voices will often be ignored, their ideas shut down, their individuality scrubbed away. Vulnerability\u2014bearing your mind and your soul to another\u2014is difficult but, with some work and patience, the kids at Broad Ripple have given us the pleasure of experiencing and building upon what gives them joy or fear or strength. We work every day to encourage these kids to embrace who they are and to express whatever may come from that experience.<\/p>\n

Where these kids are learning to express themselves and embrace their own artistic quirks, we the mentors are learning how to listen. I have been given so much by these kids. I\u2019ve read stories that blew me away; I\u2019ve had conversations that have brought tears to my eyes; I\u2019ve rapped, cartwheeled, hopped, wrote, read, and laughed my way through this semester with these kids. I\u2019ve gained so much being with them and seeing them grow. All it takes is a little bit of time and an open ear.<\/p>\n

Chris Ebersole is a senior English major.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It seems strange to me that the simplest things are those that we often forget. How easy is it, really, to just listen? As it turns out, it\u2019s not so simple. Every day that I have spent at Broad Ripple has been loud, hectic, wildly engaging (assuredly these are all …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":624,"featured_media":2758,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[15637,37038],"tags":[],"coauthors":[265091],"class_list":["post-2751","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-broad-ripple","category-bu-tutor-reflections","column","twocol","has-thumbnail"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.butler.edu\/wits\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2751","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.butler.edu\/wits\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.butler.edu\/wits\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.butler.edu\/wits\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/624"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.butler.edu\/wits\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2751"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.butler.edu\/wits\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2751\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2762,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.butler.edu\/wits\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2751\/revisions\/2762"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.butler.edu\/wits\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2758"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.butler.edu\/wits\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2751"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.butler.edu\/wits\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2751"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.butler.edu\/wits\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2751"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.butler.edu\/wits\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=2751"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}