"Everybody is a somebody; never--never--treat anybody as a nobody." I
told a
couple of professors at the closing wine and dine schmooze session of my two
days workshop
on teaching at Central Michigan. Unexpectedly I found myself going into a
deeper "why" as
they probed the "why" of my vision.
"Everybody is a somebody; never--never--treat anybody as a nobody" says
it all
about what I have learned is the essence of being in the people business of
teaching.
And, on that bedrock foundation rests my driving vision, my guiding purpose, my
focusing
intention, my unrelenting responsibility in which I invest my awareness,
attention,
thoughts, emotions, time, effort, and commitment: to be that person who always
is there
to help each person help her/himself become the person she or he is capable of
becoming.
My vision, purpose, intention, and responsibility make me a futurist who
confidently sees
each student through the clear and dynamic lens of "is becoming" rather than the
pessimistic, clouded, and stasis pane of "is,".
And so, for me, every moment is a golden opportunity blessed with new
possibilities, and I "merely" have the challenge of filling it with life; of
finding the
magnificence in the seemingly mundane, the extraordinary in the apparent
ordinary, and the
something in the alleged "nothing much." And, each time I do that, each time I
go that
too often seldom walked extra mile, I'll love, live, and make each supposed
wasteful "ho
hum" moment I teach into the purposeful, magnificent, joyful, satisfying,
rewarding, and
fulfilling moment it was meant to be.
Before any of you wave me off with a "posh" because you think I am
dreamy,
remember what Helen Keller said, "No pessimist ever discovered the secret of
the stars, or
sailed an uncharted land, or opened a new doorway for the human spirit."
Yeah, everybody is a somebody, and never--never--treat anybody as a
nobody!
Make it a good day.
--Louis--
Louis Schmier http://www.therandomthoughts.com
Department of History
Valdosta State University
Valdosta, Georgia 31698 /\ /\ /\ /\
(229-333-5947) /^\\/ \/ \ /\/\__/\ \/\
/ \/ \_ \/ / \/
/\/
\ /\
//\/\/ /\
\__/__/_/\_\ \_/__\
/\"If you want to climb
mountains,\ /\
_ / \ don't practice on mole
hills" -
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