The past few days have been long and emotionally engaging. It has been awesome to witness a group of highly diverse individuals (diverse in every sense of the word: race, socioeconomic status, geographical location, upbringing, sexual orientation, political affiliation, religion, and anything you can name). Sitting in a room of these individuals and engaging in ideas of ending the achievement gap is one of the coolest things I have ever been a part of. The caliber of these people committed to this cause is simply incredible.
I thought I had a grasp of the education gap that exists today until the stories became real stories and experiences of people who had experienced these realities in the classroom firsthand. There is just something in putting names in stories that make them so much real to me. You become engaged and invested. I know I am in the right place right now because I am fired up about the problem that I will set out everyday to fix. I never once felt that way about teeth.
This passion is what makes me so nervous. I am worried about maintaining high expectations of my students despite being aware of the difficulties that they may be facing at home. There is no denying that something needs to be done to raise these expectations in order for every student to be given the fair chance to succeed.
"This is the time, Memphis is the place."
Be inspired. I for sure am: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6yp3DMAHh9s
P.S.: Ironically I am the conservative, Southern, goody-good, Christian, fratty kid in this mix. Which in comparison to most of my friends, this is no where close to being the case. I will take it with pride :) Also, zar is spreading throughout the U.S.! You just wait...
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