Dear the Youth of Today,
Life is hard. Think back to when you were five and just learning to ride a bike or tie your shoes or learn to read. It was hard. You didn’t get it the first time, the second time, or maybe even the hundredth time. But eventually, you got it! Life never stops being hard, but the “hard” changes. It’s what you do.
As an adult, I am constantly learning. In my professional career, that continues to be the case, especially as an educator. These past few years, a large focus of our professional development has been equity and systemic racism, and what our role is in changing these societal issues.
In one of our recent Academic Seminars, I did an activity where I had to write down five words that tell about me. I took this as words or roles that I play in my life: Mom, Wife, Teacher, Mixed-Race, Female. Then we had to cross out one role at a time, leaving just one by the end. Each time I crossed out one of my words, I had to internally reflect on why that one was the one that I took away and why the others were more defining of me. By the end, I felt like I needed to justify why I chose the final role. I don’t know if this will always be my most defining role. Maybe it will change tomorrow, but for now I accept it.
To the youth of today, don’t feel like you must know who you are right now and what roles you may play in the future. Embrace the roles you are currently in and see how you can influence others in the present-time. Expect to constantly be changing. As you learn more about yourself and about the world around you, your values will likely change. Your purpose in life will likely change. I thought I knew everything in high school. I loved high school. I made a lot of friends, had a lot of fun and was really successful. I remember thinking that there was no way that the next chapter of life could be better. But it was. My next chapter happened to be college. I made some new friends, experienced new things, places, and people. But best of all, I experienced new points of view, new ways of thinking and new perspectives from people from all over the world. This is where some of my new learning took place at that point in my life.
As I have continued to grow older, I reflect back at different points of my life and think about what I valued then, how I spent my time and money, what my future goals were, and how I let my past impact me. I’m 37, so I know that this journey of finding myself is not over. I’m in the middle of it. Who knows where this path will lead, but by keeping an open mind, I am excited to see where it leads to next.
Oh! The word that I ended up keeping at the end of my professional development activity was Teacher. I decided that my role as a teacher encompasses all of those other roles that I wrote down. Not only do I teach my students, but I also teach my family. Being a mixed-race female, I can teach the world that I am capable of being and doing exactly what please, and the make-up of me will not be a barrier. Some roles can and will change, some will not. Some may change daily, in a few years, or never.
Whatever your current and future roles are, my hope is that you can find yours and use them to benefit those around you.
Sincerely,
Noelani Gurske
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