What have you been doing, dreaming of, hoping and fighting for? answer in 250 words or less.5/19/2017 A request came from my boarding school, Pearson College UWC: write a one-pager of what you’ve been doing, what you’re dreaming of, hoping for, fighting for…. When I went to Pearson there were 200 students from 70 countries, and I was one of 5 from the US. Kurt Hahn (of Outward Bound fame) started these schools with the thinking that bringing young people together from across the globe would be a path towards greater cross cultural understanding and, with that, a hope for world peace. It is time for a cluster reunion, and they are calling it my 30th. I won't be able to attend, and I thought I'd give this prompt a shot. I wish I had been asked these questions when I was a recent graduate from Pearson. I was young enough that I would have thought I knew the answers.
What have I been doing? After college I was a Peace Corps volunteer in Panama. I worked with farmers and thought a lot about soil conservation and seed preservation. I learned that there was much I did not know about poverty, development, land ownership, and that there is a difference between what looks good on paper and what works. During those two years, I lived without electricity and only recently have begun to enjoy candlelight as ambiance. I learned that I can live a pretty good life with very few material possessions when I have access to clean water, shelter, food, and health care. These were big realizations for my twenty-three year old self and good reminders to myself every day. After a couple twists and turns, including marriage and a few more years in Panama, I ended up working at a boarding school in the United States. Pearson influenced my decision to join the Peace Corps, and working at a boarding school allowed me to appreciate the experience that I had at Pearson. Thinking about Pearson, I wish I had asked more questions of my peers, tried to listen more and talk less. But even with all the background noise that comes with being a young adult, there are many things that got through. Pearson emphasized giving and leaving the world a better place. That was clear when I filled out the application. I did not know how hard it is to stay true to that goal. What took more time to register is how much Pearson helped me understand that there is more than one way to do things and celebrate those differences. It would be reasonable to assume that my time in the Peace Corps was when I felt I gave back the most. This is far from the case. The people who I met in rural Panama taught me more about how to live in an imperfect world than any expertise I provided them. Instead, I have tried to figure out how to give back where I landed. Today, my world is quite small as I navigate adulthood with the mundane but important task of raising a family. As an educator, I have opportunities to consider when a different perspective might plant a seed. Here is one small example. When I was a student, an alumnus, visited campus to talk about the importance of supporting students of all sexual orientations. At the time I could not see what it had to do with me, and I confess that I was not even curious enough to attend a meeting. At my current school I have worked extensively with the administration, faculty, and student body around this very need in an environment where there are conflicting viewpoints. The seed to consider the perspective of someone different from myself was planted at Pearson. Those roots have become important because the conversations are not always easy ones. Working at a boarding school, I have also grown to understand the importance of alumni involvement in order for the experience to be passed on to the next generation. Would many of my classmates gone on to do great things even without Pearson? Probably yes. With so many incredibly bright and talented people, I hope that this would be the case. This is what I do know: Pearson shifted my world view, and it no longer spins on the same axis that it once did. I know that after the recent US election, it was my Pearson friends that I turned to to help me process. It is their collective experience, wisdom, and gentle reminders of their own political realities that helped me, as my students would say, get over myself and figure out how to move forward. I know that I watch, read, and listen to the news with a different lens than many of my current colleagues. And, I know that when there is happiness or sadness in the world, it echoes in my heart because of all of those I met at Pearson.
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