Say, Ask, Be

“Say the change you want to see. Ask the change you want to see. Be the change you want to see.” -Sylvia Martinez

Once I say my thoughts out loud, I need to be willing to ask what needs to be done to accomplish what I want. By asking, I’m taking a risk. I’m taking a risk because there will be others who tell me that it can’t be done or why it shouldn’t be done. I need to be specific with my questions and not ask ones that people can answer with these negatives. I need to ask what steps I need to take to reach this goal. I’m not asking if I should do it or whether it can be done. If it can be put into words, anything is possible.
Once I have said it and asked about it, I need to take action. Talking and discussing will never make anything happen
Sometimes when we push for change, we stand alone, apart from everyone else. Everyone seems to be holding their breath waiting to see if I sink or swim.

Today, I had deep conversations with two of my students; conversations that I will probably remember for days, months and years to come. The first was a result of misbehavior but ended with the student smiling, laughing and understanding where I am coming from. I am trying to get both of us to change so we can get him on track to graduate. The second was an amazingly enlightening and passionate conversation about politics and taxes. It was an extremely adult and mature conversation for this particular student to have and we had a good one hour talk....you can't get that much time very often individually with a student but we had a REAL moment together.

I had read the mentioned quote on another website and it really got me thinking...I am pushing my students to make changes in their lives---mostly in academia. But, it takes a lot for these students to 1) say they are going to change 2) ask questions in class in order to really understand something and 3) live out that change in front of their peers. All this applies in every subject but especially in reading....

Change is hard especially when most of these students are doing it on their own...always have to remember that.