I wanted to think about how to answer this one for a little bit, because it’s such a big question. I want to stand up for the underdog. In that sense, I have and might in the future work with or to bring visibility to issues of poverty, race, the LGBTQ community, veterans who aren’t getting the support they need, mental health…but I do keep coming back to children, and ultimately that’s where I want to be, at some point in my life, in whatever capacity (teaching, doing psych work in juvenile detention centers, working with LGBTQ youth groups, anything).
It affects the way I choose to do this, too. Chances are, I’m going to prefer being in an area other teachers don’t want to go to, or working with an age group my education-involved companions avoid (re: middle school), or administering services that may or may not be typical. If someone asks me, “You’re looking THERE?” it’s likely to push me harder into wanting to go there — not for the sake of being contrary, but because it means there are fewer people willing to stand up for them.
And among other social issues that I’m also passionate about, children can sometimes be the most powerless, or the least empowered, depending on the circumstances. That’s not to say that young people don’t have power of their own. They have energy. They have fresh eyes. They have amazing imaginations. And I want to be there to make sure that those things blossom and grow, that they’re not strangled out. That those young people realize that they’re amazing people, each and every one of them, capable of amazing things.
All in all, I want to make sure that the people who need help get help. Children are at the mercy of so many factors in their lives — and so are their parents, and their teachers, and the people trying to help them. Adding one more protective factor can do so much, whether it’s an extra meal, the ability to read a book that helps them escape, confidence to be themselves, or a classroom where they know they’re safe.
Someone told me, “You can’t save anyone.” I’ve heard that a lot on the mental health end of things. And in a way it’s true. I’ve also heard “You can’t save the world,” which is in a way also true. Because it’s not about “saving” anything — about having that be-all-and-end-all power. It’s about helping them save themselves, and in the social justice and education fields, instilling in people the drive to go out and try to make the world a different place. Saving the world is a group effort. Empowering other people to do both of those things is important. Working with young people is my way of doing that. I want them to feel like they can do that. To feel strong, and accepted, and capable. And there’s a drive when I say that about young people that doesn’t push as hard when I say it about anyone else. So, I figure, this is what I’m meant to do, eventually.
