Be the Change

I really enjoyed the "Be the Change" article. I thought it beautifully portrayed an inspiring example of change for the better. One common theme that I saw throughout the article was that as dreamy or idealistic as it sounded, it was not without struggle. In Trinity classes, we often engage in discussions about how we could alter the education system to better serve students or brainstorm strategies to engage students who seem disinterested. We use phrases like "strive to succeed," "community of support," fighting for equality," etc. which sound awesome but are sometimes too ambiguous to imagine implementing. This article gave specific examples of what these ideals look like and shared the holistic process it took to get there. They discussed the difficult lives of the students (involved in drug trade or gang activity, whose parents who may not have graduated from high school, who were fluent in Spanish but not English, etc.), the bumps along the way ("plumbing disasters and wiring inadequacies"), and the continuous effort it took (re-designing curriculum, collaborating and training staff.) I appreciated hearing about all of the obstacles along the way because it showed the depth of their determination and the force with which they charged toward their goals. It brought to mind the essay question I just wrote about for the MAT application about the importance of grit--I thought the depiction of their journey was a perfect embodiment of grit.