Lisa Dayringer

Lisa Dayringer
Living here as an actual community member was very different than
living here as a student who was being guided along a specific path.
The chance to simply sit around talking to people was invaluable.
And the opportunity to process everything on my own and come to
conclusions without interference was an experience I would not have
traded for anything.
Understanding the history and the reasons why reality is
what it is allowed me to make more sense of everything, so
in that aspect the course and the readings were really informative and
helped answer the “why?” that I found myself continuously asking.
One issue that bothers me is the fact we are given the opportunity
to understand how a place like Over-the-Rhine has come to be, but
I am guessing most of the people living here have not had the same
opportunity to learn how their communities and their situations
were created. I would prefer that everyone learn this, but if only
one group is going to learn the history of the urban ghetto, it should
be the people who have to live in it. A program that reached out to
the community more might be more beneficial than just educating
a handful of Miami kids. I have lost track of the number of times
community people have asked me about how they could take classes
in their neighborhood. It’s a rather awkward question to be asked
when you do not have a satisfactory answer to give in return.
For the most part I came in with similar feelings as I’m
leaving with, I just understand better why I have the opinions I
have. If anything has changed, I think I’m better at looking at things
through multiple perspectives. I’ve been doing this for a long time,
but this experience provided quite a lot of practice. It’s extremely
important to see things from as many angles as possible, but at the
same time it makes me into one of the most indecisive people I’ve
ever met.
That being said, I have also realized that I am absolutely
not an academic. I can’t for the life of me write something that makes
a definitive point because I can’t make up my mind long enough
for that to happen. Education is important for making informed
decisions, and I am glad I have it, but I do much better interacting
in the real world. I have appreciated the opportunity to do that
here as a way of learning. All in all, I enjoyed the program and found
most of my thoughts reaffirmed through the classes and daily life.
Lisa and Alex Libengood enjoy a cool treat at Fountain
Square for some relief from the heat of the city.
Lisa and Buddy find some time to relax after a long day
of classes.
A beautiful view of buildings in Over-the-Rhine, many of
which now stand vacant and deteriorating.