On Becoming a Teacher...

I had never imagined that I would be a teacher. Wait, that is a lie. In high school the idea cross my mind. Actually, I wanted to become one. Somehow in high school, the idea had been planted and it sounded appealing. As a young idealist, I dreamt of touching student's minds and hearts.

 I aspired to teach because I wanted to inspire young people. I even remember coming home and yelling out, 'I'm going to be a teacher!', and having raised eyebrows as a response. And just like the idea came to mind uninvited, it left also without warning. The business of life and thoughts of other worthy careers took its place in a smooth transition. Little did I know that fifteen years later, the prophecy will come true.

I'm becoming a teacher and I have a bag load of emotions. Yes, in a way, some of them are the same ones that came to me as a teenager. The love to change and touch lives resides there as if it had never left before. Some things in life never do change or maybe we forget about them, I don't know, the point is that they are forever new. In the bag though, I also find anxiety, terror, nervousness, fear, concern, and many other things that make the bag a little heavy. 'It will be tough' people say, 'You will find no peace,' they warn me. To the sea of obstacles that come with the profession, I have chosen to be a teacher in an inner-city high need Baltimore high school. The good thing is that the warnings and concerns turn to silent responses when people hear of this.

I am not a big believer in destiny. Every time people speak of it I hear it in a cheesy way. 'It was meant to be' or 'everything happens for a reason' don't carry much meaning for me. So when I find myself asking, well how many people do get to do what they dreamed of as kids? Well, I am not sure. Some kids have much wilder dreams than others and also kids want to be something else every day. You make the calculations and make sure to carry the addition and by no means forget to round up and you get, well, who knows. Some people say that the key is never to stop dreaming, I find this a little less cheesy.

Soon I will be in front of twenty pairs of eyes staring back at me choreographed. I will move to the left and they will move with me. To the right and it will take them a little longer, and yup, they go to the right. Scary thought. Not the eyes staring back but the responsibility and accountability to all my students. The fine line that there is between authority and the abuse of power, the delicate process to motivate and inspire. All these things cross my mind, what teacher will I be? Will I be successful? Will my students be successful? Will they really stare back all the time?

I also think of all teachers. They all had their first year. In addition, I think of all my colleagues, who just like, will be teaching their first year. We are together in this. Not that being together on a sinking boat is a good situation for anybody, but hey, nothing like the feeling of helpless resignation with your fellow human being to create a fussy warm feeling inside. I pause. I do think of all teachers. Not only those who I remember first, for having a special place in my life. No, not only them. I think of all the teachers that had to do with my upbringing. That’s a lot of them, I find myself thinking. Then, I think of all the ones that taught those that I love, the teachers that educated my siblings and my parents and my grandparents. I think of the work of their hands day in and day out. One thing seems to surface the cloud of consciousness, it must be worth it.

To teach. Sometimes I equate this with, to learn. They go hand in hand. It would make sense then, that those that are excellent at teaching would be excellent in learning. To master anything, we have to become like children. Every time we enter a place and a ground that is unknown, where everything is foreign, you ask, you fall, you imitate, you try again and eventually you learn. (Yes, some fall over and over again but you have to believe they are learning with each fall and others want to avoid the pain of falling and carry an inflatable mattress to throw every time they think they will hit the ground) What if this is all it takes to be great? To have the humility to learn and to have the tenacity to get up. No, it’s not a motto or a banner, least of all a philosophy or pedagogy of learning or any other big word teachers use for the sake of increasing their lexicon or sounding too smart, it is not. I only think of it as the most important thing I want my students to learn. Nothing more, nothing less.

After all, when I give it some thought, that’s all I will want my students to learn. Life is tough. Life requires you to be humble. If you are humble, you will learn. If you learn to persevere, no obstacle is big enough. What a great lesson. That has to be rooted in a standard somewhere. In fact, I would like to cover that in Unit one of the first semester. Unfortunately, it doesn’t work that way. The thing is though, that if I keep it in mind, I believe I will teach it somehow. I don’t know how. Maybe it will come out of my pores or out of my mouth at times—it will definitely be seen with my hands, yes, definitely with my hands. At times, a stare, a gentle act or a word of encouragement would do. I’m not sure, I can only hope that I could teach it.

I’m becoming a teacher. There will be no standing ovations or decorations. Only the success of your students—this seems to be enough. Indeed, that is enough.  

Pentecost and Social Media: An Opportunity for Communion, Activism or an End to Real Human Relationships?

According to a recent study, 1 out of 4 people use social media worldwide. The fast growing phenomenon has taken the world by surprise. Created only in 2004, Facebook has become the newest and most popular social media network and also become a powerful wealthy corporation estimated to be worth nearly 8 billion dollars. But, with the fast rapid integration of technology and social media, countless studies and research are pointing out the effects and impact that social media has on individuals and groups alike.

There seems to be several diagnosis or social problems that describe the use of social media. Many studies point out at the sense of belonging that social media creates. Whether it is in facebook, twitter, pinterest or instagram, upgrading status, publicizing photos or tweeting, creates a sense of participation worldwide. Participation that everyone seems to be seeking desperately due to the great inheritance of past movements that left humanity feeling alienated and desolated. The existential movement raised questions of individual meaning and existence and has emphasized the personal will rather than the integration of a group, the industrial revolution alienated the individual from purpose, the economic exploitation of capitalism has alienated the individual from his work and has maximized the power of individual choice leaving people wondering if they have any real impact or meaning in the world. With the turn of the century no one predicted the great need human beings will face as suddenly corporations and technological advances were making the news instead of their personal opinions. Social media seems to be a sort of cheap remedy to this global disease. Through social media, people regain a sense of meaning and participation--by having their 'voice' be seen or heard across the globe. While it provides an artificial sense of meaning, it also provides for a sense of communion. People find a sense of brotherhood in social media that they find in social-life, whether it is rooting for your soccer team, praying for a world-cause, or supporting a political agenda--social media unifies people of similar minds and interests.

This takes us to what some people would argue is the most important reason of social media--activism. The revolution in Egypt, one of the first of its kind was predominantly achieved through social media. By the

spread of 'the word of mouth' or to be more precise, the rapid spread of facebook comments and tweets, created awareness and a social movement that eventually became the revolution. From hashtags that show empathy with 200 Nigerian families that miss their abducted daughters to the rapid spread of campaigns seeking to popularize a political vote, social media not only informs but it brings about support. While many also argue that social media desensitize people from events, as cases are becoming frequent where bystanders choose to record an emergency rather than take action,  the power for spreading communal support for a cause is clearly larger.

Research shows however, that the greatest challenge for the use of social media is the disconnection that human beings have in interpersonal experiences. Millenia are already showing a great deficit in social skills--not being able to communicate clearly when it comes to doing it face to face due to the lack of verbal communication. If communication becomes primarily a written medium, researchers say that we are creating a society that would be brilliant in explaining written complex ideas and helpless in communicating a simple greeting face to face.

The Church just celebrated Pentecost. As described by the Church, this is the event where the Holy Spirit descends on the apostles as promised by Jesus Christ as they were hiding from the jews in fear of persecution. It marks the birthday of the Church because it signifies the beginning of the proclaiming of Jesus Christ to all the nations. So what does Pentecost have to do with social media? It turns out, a great deal. Whatever the position is on social media and technology in general, it cannot be ignored that it has grown to be a global culture. You embrace technology or you are left behind in the world. Social media has become a great medium that unifies the world--and therefore a big metaphor for the Holy Spirit if applied in the right manner.

Scripture says that after Peter was touched by the Holy Spirit he no longer feared the jews and proclaimed Jesus Christ that very same day and three thousand people were converted. Today, with social media--our post, photo, or tweet goes far beyond three thousand people in a matter of seconds. The question now is, do we seek for communion in God, seek justice through righteous activism or do we find ourselves losing our interpersonal humanness in the process?