The Audacity of Hope

I just love that title - The Audacity of Hope. A couple of years ago I saw Barack Obama on Oprah talking about this book. This was before he officially threw his name in the running for President. However, I was intrigued by this man and the message he was trying get across. Yesterday, I was in Barnes & Noble and with a 30% coupon in hand I finally picked up my own copy. I figured I had no excuse now. This was a better time than any to read it. So far I've only read one chapter and it has really been thought provoking. It seems to come to me at an important time in my life. The book reminds me that despite hardships we may face there is still a common thread that unites us together that for too long we have forgotten. You guessed it right: HOPE. Now this blog is not an attempt to express my political views or convince anyone otherwise. Really this blog is just a time for me to reflect on hope.

As many of you know I'm in the middle of intense assessment of my teaching. It's been a very draining process at times, not only this assessment but also everything I have gone through to get this far. Test after test, class after class. I'm seeing why teachers get burnt out so fast, why they fall victim to just doing what the state tells them to and not taking the time to consider their individual students' needs, why they lose sight of why they really got into teaching in the first place. Therefore, posting this blog this evening is merely an attempt for me to take a deep breath and remember what kind of hope I have. I'm posting excerpts from an essay I wrote a couple of months ago on my philosophy of education. The whole thing was 7 pages long so I wont bore you with all of it.

Finding the Individual
“You can be anything you want to be.” When a young girl about four years-old, sitting on her father’s knee, hears him say these few words she believes it. Not only does she believe it; she dreams endless possibilities. She sees her name on a ballot for president, on a patch of an astronaut’s suit, and on the plaque of a teacher’s desk. Yet, when she is fourteen, sitting on a street corner, feeling alone, contemplating the thought of dropping out of school, she laughs at the thought of remembering her father’s words. Her father is now encouraging her to work two jobs to support the family, her mother wants her to help raise her two younger siblings, her friends are encouraging her to join a gang, and the media is enticing her to sell her body for attention. She smirks to think, be anything I want to be? I can only be what others want me to be. What happened in ten short years that changed this girl’s confidence in herself? Why does she now feel her options are so limited, when they once seemed never-ending? At this point of feeling helpless is when most students recognize a common dilemma: how does one balance societal demands and one’s own personal dreams, desires, aspirations and goals. It is my philosophy that everyone struggles to comprehend the endless possibilities within their own personal lives due to society’s demands. They can only be freed to entertain such options by receiving an education that promotes self-realization and provides the skills to seek these opportunities.

Basically then I went on to talk about the different roles teachers, administrators, and the classroom environment can go to play in a student seeking their full potential. It outlines what I hope to do as a teacher.

So why did I put this small excerpt up here? Because I need to remind myself of this now more than ever not to lose hope. Hope in the fact I will someday be where I want to be. Reminding myself that the dream I had as a little girl that I could one day make a difference is still inside me. Just because I'm older and the hustle of daily life wears me down, doesn't mean I have to lose hope in that dream and neither do you in yours.