I wondered yesterday. I wondered last night. I
wondered when I woke up in the middle of the night. I wondered when I came to
work in the morning. I will wonder when I leave work tonight. I will wonder
when I get home.
I wonder if I can balance my family and other parts
of my life. I wonder if they know they are special. I wonder if I can make a
difference. I wonder if I had made a difference. I wonder if I can maintain
this pace of more and more in education with less and less. I wonder if I made
the right choices and thanked the right people. I wonder if I have enough
gratitude. I wonder if I can inspire people to be happy. I wonder how people do
not understand the difference between serving and self-serving. I wonder why
people have never been on a team.
“When I was 5
years old, my mother told me that happiness is the key to life. When I went to
school, they asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up. I wrote down ‘happy.’
They told me I didn’t understand the assignment, and I told them they didn’t
understand life.” -John Lennon
I did not always know I was going to be an educator.
I did, however, know I was going to make a positive difference one way or
another. I knew I would make people laugh so hard that their bellies would
hurt. I knew I would make people feel so good about themselves; they would
surpass what they thought possible. I knew I would give people opportunities
that I did not have. I knew I could model character and empower leadership. I
knew I could make people see themselves as leaders.
If being an educator was easy, everyone would be an
educator. Everyone would understand what we need, what we do. No one would bash
us. They would degrade the companies that are making the money from lobbying
and over testing. They would discredit the people that do not care. They would
eradicate the unethical scam and scheme artists. Then they would appreciate a
common approach to education where authentic leadership is valued.
When your head hits the pillow late tonight after
planning or grading tests or attending a school related function, or running
your family around the east coast, please know you are not alone and you
matter. Please tell your family that they matter and that you love them. Remind
yourself that you have the power to touch lives every day at home and at
school. Today, as I was overwhelmed with work, I opened an email from a former
student. I share this letter with you because it is you. You never know who is
listening but I know she was! This goes out to all parents and all educators.
Every time you wonder, think of all the people that listened and you do not
even know about it. This is for all the “thank yous” that you never hear. This
is for creating a “Renaissance” school and a “School to Watch.” This is for
understanding the value of climate and culture and knowing the difference
between the two. This is for “Daring Greatly.”
Dr.
R,
It’s hard to believe that in just a few weeks
I’ll be a college graduate. These final
weeks at Queens are filled with sentimental time of reflection and
celebration. For me, part of that
reflection piece is passing on words of gratitude.
Today was a beautiful day on our campus to
celebrate learning with the scholarship donors who generously give to our
university. As these donors talk about
why they’ve chosen to make an investment in our education, I couldn’t help but
think of the investment you’ve made in my education. It’s so neat that you’ve cared enough to
watch me grow through college graduation!
At Queens our focus is living a noble life
through community and character. It’s
our job to look at the world, as it “ought to be.” I’d like to think I came to college with a
basic understanding of what that meant.
It all started with you! Character traits and leadership began in those
fifth grade leadership lessons. When I
share with professors, peers, and family about why I’ve been able to thrive
here at Queens, It often begins with the phrase I had a middle school principal
who encouraged me to write goals…. My
middle school years are such a critical part of my story.
There are the moments when it gets difficult to
sit in education classes knowing that the road to being a teacher has been
anything but easy because my peers will be teachers sooner than me. And then there’s moments like today’s class
where we talk about classroom climate and school culture and my thoughts
immediately turn to Belhaven! Or the
moment a few weeks ago when a group of students was sharing their experience
about visiting the Ron Clark Academy and I told a friend that rather than going
to visit that school they should go hear you speak about Belhaven…. It’s that
brilliant!
I leave
Queens with a compassionate heart to serve the students in our city who need
someone to believe they have a chance to succeed. You’ve given me a tremendous amount of hope
and inspiration. It’s time for me to
give that to other young people. You’ve made me a visionary! Being an educator is still the passion that
sits in my heart and it’s going to take us more time to accomplish that goal. I haven’t given up! My bigger dream though is
to serve young people. So maybe I’ll
work with a non- profit. I’ve given
deeper thought to why I want to teach and molding people of good character is a
huge piece of that…. So, I wonder what
it would be like to get a job promoting character education programs like
Renaissance in more of our public schools.
Anyway, here’s
what I’ve learned in my time as student… If Dr.
R. says he believes in you he meant it and nearly anything is
possible! WE did it!!
Congratulations to Franki as she finishes her
freshman year and Danica for getting ready to start high school!
With Gratitude,
Julie
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