Monday, February 14, 2011

Shine


I was sitting in a Five Guys Burger restaurant across from the hotel with Kyle having one last meal together. It had been a phenomenal weekend and I wasn't ready for it to be over.

"Hey," I asked him. "What's this year's motto?"

Back when we were roommates in Hawaii, Kyle would come up with a motto for each new year. 2009 was the Year of Efficiency. 2010 was The Year of Higher Standards. 2011?

"Living and Loving Deeply and Following Your Heart," Kyle replied.

Back in September, when I bought a ticket to Washington, D.C., for the Teach For America 20th Anniversary Summit, I did it for one reason: so I could see some of my best friends. I rolled my eyes at the TFAness of the event. I told people I didn't really care much about the actual events at the Convention Center. All I could see was an opportunity for a very cheap ticket to a great city and a reunion with some of the most important people in my life.

As it turns out I got both those things. But I also came away with so much more.

Being in the presence of thousands of other people in similar situations was pretty powerful. Seeing people like John Legend and Malcolm Gladwell talk about your job and your struggles was pretty cool. Hearing firsthand how rapid change was taking place in the education system by people like you was absolutely inspiring.

I know I probably sound like I finally drank the Kool-Aid. But it runs so much deeper than that.

Here I am, pushing into a fourth year of teaching in what was supposed to be a brief stop in my post-college life. Why am I doing this? Am I putting my goals and aspirations on hold because I'm afraid to finally begin chasing them? Am I hiding from the next step?


No.


This weekend I realized that my goals, my aspirations, and my future were right in front of me the whole time. This is it. Over the past three years, I've seen fierce inequities, broken promises, and harsh injustices that I never knew existed. But I've found myself in the middle of a rapidly growing fight to solve them. I now firmly believe that this is the most significant struggle of our generation. Ending so many of our nation's problems relies on the success of our fight.

This is what I want to do.

I want to live and love deeply, and follow my heart.