There's No Us and Them

I was asked to respond to a questionnaire for me high school Alumni magazine (Mater Matters- Spring 2019).  There are my responses:

 Alumnae 

“AdventuroUS in Mercy…There’s no us and them, just us.” 

Name:   Bridget E. Kelly

Year of Graduation:  1973

How were you adventurous in Mercy as a student?   Merion taught me to be adventures.  We had so many great assemblies and field trips which fostered my curiosity about the world outside our school building.  I learned to ask questions, seek new ideas and try new things. I don’t remember much of my geometry or French or biology.  But I remember the plays and the dance companies and the guest speakers who challenged our thinking.  I remember going in to Philadelphia and visiting museums. I remember being exposed to people, ideas and views that were different from my background.  Merion taught me to be confident to embrace the world. 

How did your high school years inspire future adventures?  During Easter break of my senior year (1973), I went on the school trip to Italy and loved, loved, loved every minute of it. After I came back from this trip, I wanted to see the world. And I haven’t stopped traveling since this maiden voyage.

Pictured here doing….      It’s November 2007. I was in the Wendel Sea in Antarctica.  I was on a larger ship, waiting my turn to board one of these two zodiac boats there.   It was a little warmer this day than previous days but still -10F.  So, we decided to take a ride to explore Glacier Bay in the zodiac boats.  We bundled up as usual and make our way down the gangway and slipped into the crowded boat.  The ambient air was uncomfortably cold as we settled on to a space on one of the sides of the boat.  We snuggled together in hopes of just a little more body heat. And then we took off and zipped into this cove of ice sculptures.  We are surrounded by nothing but massive walls of glaciers and ice. We were awe struck by the splendor and magnitude of the ice. This beauty left us speechless. This trip humbled me as it was so obvious that I was just a small, insignificant part of this beautiful place in this magnificent world.

What are your daily adventurous? Work? Family? Service? Hobbies?  

When I was working as a high school principal, I focused on what I could do to enrich the lives of my students. I worked every day to ensure that students had multiple opportunities to reach their potential.  I worked to make our environment as safe as possible for them to take reasonable, educated risks. It was important to me that students felt empowered to discover and follow their own path of success.

Now that I am retired, I have changed my mission to a more global focus.  I work every day to eradicate poverty by empowering women and children.  I serve as a citizen lobbyist for CARE International.  I have taught for the World Academy for the Future of Women which teaches global leadership skills to college women in China, Bangladesh and Nepal.  I am affiliated with the Haiti Family Initiative which offers wellness programs in Jacmel, Haiti. I have served on numerous nonprofit boards that offer serves to the underserved.  All of these experiences have taught me the value and personal benefits of service to others.

What map did you follow to get to where you are personally and/or professionally? 

I earned my Bachelor’s, Master’s and Doctorate degrees in education.  I spent most of my career as a school leader.  During this time, I encouraged my students to explore their own ideas. I worked to provide them with opportunities to map out their future paths.

Personally, I traveled every chance I could when I was working and now that I am retired.  And I preferred to travel to places that challenged me physically, emotionally, and spiritually.  I tend to visit countries that did not offer the best accommodations or sanitation but showed me how so many people in this world truly live.  I have been to orphanages in Tibet, a maternity ward in Tanzania, a nomad’s home in Mongolia, the township dwellings in South Africa (right before the end of Apartheid), a shaman’s hut in Peru, a hospital in rural China, Buddhist temples in Bhutan, I’ve slept on a dirty blanket in the Sahara Desert, under millions of stars. I’ve met with village chiefs and watched thousands and thousands of wild animals roam the Serengeti.

All of these experiences have shown me how rich the world truly is and how insignificant I am. My impact on this world is really nothing but a fleeting moment’s gesture. But I’ve learned that small gestures of humanity go a long way to making this world a more civilized place.  If I’ve learned anything in my travels, I’ve learned “There’s no us and them, just us.”