The Other Side

The Other Side

In my own readings of the Bible, I’m reading through the Bible this year.  In the book of Job, his friends think they know everything and speak.  They look foolish in the end.  I believe in our society today, especially on social media, we have a difficult time looking on the other side.  I was there too, until I started working in South Central Los Angeles, which is a low-income community with minority families.  My eyes have been open to the other side.

Yesterday, we graduated our sixth class.  I have been there for five of the six graduating classes.  As the senior English teacher, I get to read their personal statements and get a deeper look into their stories.  Graduating from high school for some of them is part of their parents’ “American Dream.”

For many of the students that graduate from my high school in South Central Los Angeles, they are the first in their families to graduate from high school.  I cannot fathom that understanding.  For me, in the communities and era that I grew up, graduating from high school was a given and graduating from college was for the select few.   We are sending 93% of our students to college and four students to the armed forces.  This is a huge accomplishment for this community.

I see the hard work, overcoming the obstacles of having a low education with the basics, and overcoming the labels that others outside of their community put on them.  I don’t live their lives.  I can only see it.  Maybe, if we would begin to see into the lives of others, we would be a bit more understanding.  If we were a bit more understanding, maybe we would be slow to speak and slow to become angry with others and their actions and listen a whole lot more.

To all of the graduates from the class of 2018, congratulations.  Let us all step into each day with open eyes, open ears, and an open heart.  May we speak only when we are wise.  The world is waiting for us to make each day better than the one before.