"What is life? It is the flash of a firefly in the night; the breath of a buffalo in wintertime; a shadow which runs across the grass and loses itself in the sunset." - Crowfeet
As I closed the door to my classroom for the last time, my mind flashed back to something an old Native American man had once asked me. "Have you ever watched an eagle?" "Yes as a matter of fact, I have," I answered. Once while on assignment to Southwest Africa in 1978, I had stood looking out of my hotel window. In the distance, the morning sun was rising from its bed of purple, changing color as it ascended: red, then orange and finally yellow; by mid morning it would be snow white.
Below, a young drunk rose from the grassy gutter where he had fallen the previous night. He brushed himself off, climbed out and staggered away. It was then I saw the eagle. At first it appeared at eye level, but soon began an upward spiral, soaring on the wind currents, its wings outstretched. The sight of it lifted my spirits and I felt as though he and I were moving in tandem. Up and up, above the tragic lives of the people who are the original inhabitants of this land. Rising and rising, above the quiet desperation in their eyes, above the hopelessness of their daily existence. The eagle glided through the air as gently as a kite, on spring day. My heart leaped at the sight of its grace and beauty, and for the first time in many years I experienced a sense of freedom. Suddenly it was out of sight. I stood there feeling bereft of my short-lived freedom, wishing I could soar like that eagle, but I knew my reality was closer to that of the man who had climbed out of the gutter.
What had the experience taught me? I had learned that the eagle did not fight to get where it was going. Instead of beating the wind with its wings, it stretched them out and let the current take it higher and higher; it knew where it was going and how to get there. I had since forgotten the experience and the message it had brought me. So many years had passed, that its lesson had been smothered in the routine monotony of daily survival. I had once been told by someone who knew a great deal about birds, that smaller birds often attack eagles. I would suppose they see the eagle as a threat to their chicks. Instead of fighting back, the eagle begins to increase altitude; higher and higher it rises as the smaller bird continues to swoop and attack. Finally the attacker runs out of oxygen and is forced to return to its nest, or dies in pursuit.
Some people are like small birds; they protect their petty dreams and attack those who wish to soar like an eagle. We must never attempt to dissuade a person from endeavoring to achieve a dream, unless it is too small.
During the 30 odd years I have traveled around the world and taught at college, I have discovered that many people tend to shape the parameters of their futures to meet others' expectations; sometimes it is parents, more often friends. Out of curiosity I once asked a counselor how it was possible to tell what career a child should pursue. She looked at me for a few minutes and said, "Try to find out when they are about four years old, whatever you see them doing repeatedly, that's what they are gifted to do in life. Unfortunately, parents, society and others, both out of love and often jealousy try to dissuade them." I thought of the friends I had grown up with and remembered each as a child.
Amazingly her theory proved extremely accurate. Those who played nurse or doctor became nurses and doctors, others teachers. I became the teacher I acted out as a child of four. My daughter, who was forever playing with her cash register and charging her father interest on her allowance money,(which he had given her) whenever she had to lend him a few dollars to buy cigarettes as the end of the month drew near and he had run out of cigarette money, is now going into her own business. The question remains, "Why then, do so many of us fail to achieve the goal we were meant to in life? Often we are not aware of our own abilities, unless someone we respect and admire points them out. I n 1995, I was teaching part-time at a secretarial school. One of my students was a very attractive and extremely intelligent Haitian girl. I wondered why she wanted to become a secretary and whether she knew she was far too bright to make this her life's occupation.
"Why are you attending secretarial classes when there are so many other courses here?" I asked. "Because I want to be a secretary." "No you don't," I responded." "Yes I do," She answered. "No you don't. You're too smart to be happy as a secretary." "Well that's what I want to be." "Okay," I replied as though condescending to her decision. "I'm going to find you a secretarial job."
Within a few days I was able to find her a job as a secretary at a university. Three months later I met her in the supermarket. "Still want to be a secretary?" I asked. "Oh hell no, she replied." "That's why I got you the job at the university. Attend classes." Today she is a successful labor arbitrator.
Another wonderful experience I had was with a young student who was so insistent on proving me wrong, that he became successful despite himself. For weeks I had been watching him. Having seen all types of people in my travels, the fact that his hair was blond at the tips, dark brown at the root, and it looked as though he had stuck his finger in an electric socket, had no negative impact on my assessment of him. I was awed by his intelligence. "Boy," (I always call them boy when I'm going to change their lives) "do you realize you are too intelligent to be in this university? You need to be in Rutgers or some Ivy League University." He was about six feet tall, so I had to look up to intimidate him. Of course I did not see this as intimidation. However, some weeks later, he came to me after class and told me that I had so thoroughly intimidated him that he had decided he was going to prove me wrong, so he went down to Rutgers, took the entrance examination and to his surprise, was accepted. Today he teaches Music and English.
If life is as depicted by Crowfeet, we need to seriously consider how we make use of it. Too many of us expend our time and a good proportion of our lives working below expectations--even our own. Unfortunately, when we are old and spent, then we will look back and say, "I wish I had..." but then it is too late. As an eighteen year old I made a promise to myself that I was not going to be one of those people hanging onto the side of the bed when it came time to die, crying, "I don't want to go, I haven't had a chance to do this or I haven't had a chance to do that." You must explore all your possibilities. Never mind that other people consider you a nerd, a bookworm, a drag or any of the numerous names they have for people who, if the truth were told, they wish they were like.
I remember that I was once asked to teach a class of technical school students. Most were very limited in terms of vocabulary and fluency in their own language.
NAH -I-MEEN? I set out immediately to change this. I believe that Ebonics is just another means of certifying the acceptance of poorly educated students as incapable of overcoming the circumstances in which they presently find themselves. What Ebonics is not, is part of a culture; it is a shortcoming in the education system. Additionally, it is probably responsible for many young men and women ending up incarcerated, due to the fact they don't have the vocabulary or linguistic skills to elaborate on whatever conditions have brought them before a judge.
I remember Judge Judy going ballistic over the testimony of a man who repeatedly punctuated his statements with, "and stuff." Finally, totally exasperated, she said, "If you say 'and stuff' one more time, I'm going to hold you in contempt of court." "Well," he replied, "I just want to tell you my part and stuff."
When I first started working with the tech students they were a bit contemptuous of my proposal that they learn to speak English properly. Day by day I began to explain how in many instances this might even keep them out of jail. As they mastered their new vocabulary, they began to increase their self esteem and were not afraid to make oral presentations, nor did they demean one another. They were however, unable to resist the temptation to play tricks on me by goading new students who were to meet me for the first time, into asking me "Whaddup?" They knew I would immediately reply with "Young man/woman, what did you say?" Of course they would all burst into laughter, leaving the new student feeling rather awkward. After some weeks with them, I knew I had been successful in my efforts to enhance their language skills, when one day I sternly questioned one young man about the fact that he had not submitted his homework.
"So, where's your homework?" "Well you see Dr. Evans," he responded, "I was unable to complete it because the onus of the task was overwhelming." The lock on the classroom door clicked behind me. I turned and looked into the classroom one last time, as I did, I remembered the day one of my graduating students said, "Dr. Evans I just wanted to tell you, you are not a teacher, you are an 'educator.'"
Source: http://www.20vn.com/inspirational/what-is-life-b21.htm
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