Fear...

It is well past my bedtime. However, I have been thinking about how much fear can play a role in our lives....I am fearful that I am a victim of fear far too often (and yes, I wrote that on purpose). And then, as I write and re-form the basis for my dissertation (if I E V E R am able to complete it), I think about how fear has been the origin for so many of our educational decisions and choices. Fear that we will say the wrong thing, make the wrong decision, do the wrong thing....right?!?!?

Well, then I head to my teaching gig and I think, "how much would fear play a role in my life if I completely uprooted my life and my family's lives to seek a new and different future"; "to take a risk ( a rather large risk) to increase the chances that my children will have more opportunity than me"??? Well, for many reasons, not the least of which is that I am a middle-class, white woman from the U.S., I am already "used to" making and choosing different decisions AT MY WILL that I deem important to me and to the future of my daughters...

But what if this wasn't my birth right? What if my "lot in life" had a different cultural role? A more third-world perspective? Would that make me any less of a human? Would this automatically disqualify me to choose to be educated? To choose to have my children attend the best public schools in a country still full of opportunity? To "opt-in" to be a part of the 21st century as a worthy participant?

And if I am in a position to make decisions, then what makes me qualified to decide who is worthy and who is not?!?! Only the mix of genes and geographical history separates the cultures....so this mix is what defines who is worthy of education and who isn't?

The adults I am privileged to work with are articulate, genuine, and every bit as worthy of opportunity as my own daughters. These adults work long hours, parent their children, and participate in their community even better than many of those who were born in this country. I think it is fear that drives the hatred for "immigrants". Why else would we, as a society, deny A N Y child an educational opportunity??!! What child born into this world is deserving of a lack of opportunity? When you see a newborn baby, do you automatically decide that this child will not be equal to your own? Or when we see an infant, do we all see the possibility of a human of limitless genius? What if that child finds the cure to a cancer? One answer to energy issues? Saves another human from tragedy? What if denial of an education, the simple but fearless gift of an education,  prevents another human from reaching their potential? Do you want to be the person responsible for that decision? Or do you want to be a part of the legacy that provided that stranger's baby the path to be outstanding?

I choose outstanding. I can sleep with that.