Education Starts at Home

So I just read this poem in my friend Carrie's blog (she's currently doing AmeriCorps in Texas, aka: teaching immigrant kids who can't read good to... well, read good). It made me cry at 7:46 in the morning before school, and I'd like to reflect a bit on it.

You sent me a post card
From your European vacation
That you got for graduation
When you arrived in Portugal.
I get it in my mailbox
At 6:50 to a school bus
Lugging
a thousand pounds
Of books and hopes
Of Do Now dreams
Of future things
That I now fight
for my students
to own.

In my bag
Lugging now with me
A thousand pounds
of fears and worries
Of urgency and a step that's hurried
Because time is now more precious kept
Than it has ever been.

"I
Wish
You
Were
Here."

I gaze off into sandy beaches
Of the world's farther reaches
Wondering what that life teaches
And thinking to myself-
No.
No.

I wish you were here.
I wish you were here
So you could see
Around the closed doors
And closed eyes
That make my students compromise
Dreams that many of us
Took for granted
Dreams that many of us were handed
Gift wrapped

Poverty slapped
Lacking for books,
Not for brains
Worn seams and stains
Walking home alone in the rain
Every single day.

I wish you were here
So you could see
The birththe worth
the risk to dream
gleam
in the dark
spark
from "I'm stupid"
to I'm not only smart
but I am ready to start
I am ready to start
working,
because I've got a plan.

That sheepish smile
that says "I get it"
that makes your insides feel
like if you let it
they might just light on fire
with pride
they might just ignite
and you'd glow from the inside
out.

oh howIwishyouwerehere.…

and I might have been envious
Of your endless summer
But at 5:45 I cannot stop and wonder
What city you are in
Or what things you've photographed,
when we see our students map futures
Instead of following maps.
I will no longer wonder
If you are sleeping in
Because the time is now my friends
to begin.

So when people ask us,
What we are doing with our summer
Who we are going to be
What we are going to make
You tell them
With pride my friends
At any dinner party
At any double date
We make
Eyes wide
With futures now newly considered
We make minds wide
With potential dreams that defy fate
We make mind's eyes perceive
Future schemes
That even the grandest of challenges
can no longer negate.
Plans.
Saying always now, "I Can"
Doctors, lawyers, vets, architects-
Together we make
Hope appear.
Oh,
How I wish
You had been here.

It's a little long-winded, and a tad self-righteous... but then again, so am I. But seriously, this almost perfectly expresses my feelings about (argh!) civic-engagement and the importance of teaching period. It makes me wish, a little, that I was at home doing TFA or AmeriCorps. Mostly it just makes me happy that I'm teaching some poor kids at a rural school, rather than some punk-ass rich kids in Seoul. It also makes me sad, though, as I've mentioned, that I can't speak Korean, so I can't convince my adorable poor but clever kids that they should study hard so they can go to college and not be farmers.

And should I be solving the problems of my own country before trying in other countries? Some would say yes, I suppose, but I think there's at least some different kind of benefit to me importing some aspects of American culture to Korean classrooms. A few girl students sometimes play soccer during lunch since I did it. And although I can never find out for myself, my co-teacher told me that several students mentioned the family lesson to her as being really interesting and thought-provoking.