Color Me Butterfly

It is fascinating being able to read somebody’s life tale. I am grateful to Lydia for letting me into her world, for sharing her family’s story.

By recalling the painful events of humiliation and suffering, Lydia shows how strong, after all, the battered women in her family had become. Thanks to the mutual support and prayer, they managed to survive and held their worth. Because of her voice, Lydia is able to stir audience’s deepest emotions and induce empathy and reflection.

Her story makes me look at my own situation and teaches me to believe in my own strength. It also gives the perspective on human suffering. By giving it the historical frame, the author shows the position of women in general: their status in society and dependency on men.

In addition, I am especially found of the use of language; with its southern flavour, it gives the story a special quality. Over all, the Color Me Butterfly makes a very inspirational read.

How do you learn best?

Not being a native speaker of English, at times, presents a challenge. While listening to the lecture and taking notes I stumble upon unfamiliar words. Sometimes, I get lost in new vocabulary and miss out on some presented information. I loose the momentum having have to stop to recognize a particular word. As I started my first semester at Ursuline College, I have tried a new approach to learning by recording presentations. Being able to hear the lecture for the second time gives me the chance to catch and translate misunderstood words and also helps me to better process the new knowledge. I have found that by employing an additional sense I am able to memorize the given material more efficiently. Ideally, for academic courses I would like to be able to attain the recorded versions of the material. In addition, recordings would also help me to learn the proper pronunciation of the new vocabulary.