Even though the lights were off and it was hard to make out the faces around me, I could hear the sniffles within the audience and I knew that most of us were saddened by the realities that exist in the world.
Nearly 150 students gathered in the Widener Lecture Hall on Thursday afternoon, Nov. 15, to listen to Gerry Straub, a former soap opera producer and current documentary maker.
As if it were show and tell, he didn’t say much about his experiences but he shared them with us through his footage.
It was inspiring to see the many encounters he has had with impoverished people in other countries as well as within the U.S. But most inspiring was his act of selflessness. He was a successful producer in Hollywood, a job that many people strive their whole lives to obtain, but he lacked a sense of fulfillment and gave up that glamorous life.
I’m sure many people thought that only priests and nuns do that kind of thing, because I did, but Straub is the perfect example of someone who cares enough about the world to sacrifice everything he had.
Like Straub, I know that one day I will be forced to make the decision whether or not I want to make money or make change. I don’t think that the decision necessarily has to be based on religion but based on ethics and morals. I believe a person has to be truly gifted to give up their material possessions to live in a world of poverty and it can’t be an easy choice.
At the conclusion of Poverty Awareness Month, I don’t know if there could have been a more perfect presentation. In the midst of helping the impoverished, he became one of them.
