Four years ago I fulfilled a promise to my then 10 year-old son. He read a book a couple years earlier about Route 66 and wanted to do a road trip. I said something like "maybe when you're 10..." He forgets some things, but he did not forget that. That's him in the picture on the day we left for our 8 day road trip to the Grand Canyon via Route 66. It was an amazing week. In preparation, we made a road trip music list, trying to associate songs with landmarks. We enjoyed living on 'Tulsa Time' and we stood on THE corner in Winslow, Arizona. And of course we made it to 'Amarillo by Morning'. I remember Amarillo well actually because western Oklahoma and the Texas Panhandle seemed to consist of mostly wide open space, so we were grateful to hit a city and take a break from our travels. We got lunch, checked out the local zoo, and visited the Cadillac Ranch. After that we set back out on our road trip, and I assumed I'd never see Amarillo again... Fate is funny. I'm excitedly heading back to Amarillo next week for the Amarillo College Culture of Caring Poverty Summit. I've been working a long time, and I've been to a lot of conferences, so to be this excited to travel on a Sunday is not normal. But this opportunity is not normal. It is a chance to be together with a group of people who think like I do, that poverty is the single greatest obstacle to student success. It is a chance to bring a team from my college to learn and return to our college to expand this work I believe in so much. Attacking poverty barriers is so important, and I remain committed to it at my core. Let me help you understand why.
I'm excited to go to Amarillo on behalf of my friend Emmie (Emmie's story). Emmie is currently not in school, but I saw her the other day, and she is working on a return plan. She is working at a local restaurant and gathering herself for pursuit of her dream. We have to build structures to help Emmie pursue her dream of owning a bakery. We can't require heroism, we just need to create a system that allows her non-linear journey to end in success. Emmie continues to overcome barriers that would floor most of us, and I want us to be the college that includes her and learns from her. She is counting on us to be the place that helps her have the life she dreams of. I think we have to be worthy of her trust.
I'm going to Amarillo on behalf of my friend John (John's story). John used his HSED and college credit to start our precision machining program. John, and the team of people who care about him, made a choice to shift to welding in the spring, and he continues to work hard at it. Math doesn't come easy for John, but he is here in our department for the summer term, brushing up his math skills to pass Math for Welding. The welding certificate he will acquire when he is done will give him access to better jobs, better wages, and a better future. I'm going to Amarillo because the world needs people like John to have opportunity. One of our premises of poverty informed practice is that our students with barriers teach us more than other students ever could. John is always so positive and grateful, but in reality we should be just as grateful to him. John doesn't know it, but he's showing us how to get better every day.
I'm going to Amarillo on behalf of my friend Andrea (Andrea's story). That's Andrea on the left, alongside her friend and my associate dean, Mandy. Andrea's story continues to grow. Not only did she use her HSED and college credits to start pursuing an Associate's Degree in Human Services, she's actually working for me (hence the desk and computer) currently as part of our office team. When we had the opening, I remembered a story I heard Dr. Donna Beegle tell about her friend Shariff telling her it was nice her car had a house (aka garage), when so many people didn't. She put the car on the street and made temporary housing in her garage. If she could do that, the least I could do is provide a student with an opportunity to work and build stability. I'm a bit repetitive, but Andrea has taught us so much already, we would be foolish not to have her as part of our college and team.
So I'm going to Amarillo on behalf of some heroes of mine and to meet some other heroes of mine. But I'm also going to Amarillo for the kid in the ancient graduation picture. As oddly gleeful as he looks surrounded by his grandparents with his 80's quasi-mullet, that was actually one of the toughest days of his life. Just a few short hours before the ceremony and this picture, the police were at his house to deal with a stepfather who had too much to drink and was violent to his mother. He glued a smile on his face and played a part, and he kept the secret of what happened in his house, even though it happened pretty regularly. I often think about that day (more so lately because my daughter is graduating in a week), because it reminds me there is always more to the story. No one at my school ever asked me about my life at home. I just smiled and got good grades and built up my defenses. Now I know, we must love our students and we must assume our help is not optional. Now I know, we must strive to get past the surface and find the barriers that are preventing them from having the lives they dream of. I can't wait to get to Amarillo (by morning or midnight as the case may be), and see what we can become.
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