First semester down teaching English at the historic United States Military Academy at West Point and I am proud.
Today I read through approximately 32 term end exam papers written by Plebes or freshmen. I expected simplistic and underdeveloped essays. I expected incoherent prose muddled with sentence-level errors. I expected immature and underdeveloped ideas. I found quite the opposite! Shame on me for doubting the capability of inquisitive minds.
I found profoundly insightful perspectives about perception, inclusion, integration, assimilation, and combatting social hierarchies that deny opportunities to those who seek refuge. After about the third paper, I found myself immersed in fresh ideas, akin to non-fiction that I often read for pleasure. I learned something today.
Young people CAN teach us a thing or two, if we are humble enough to listen. Perhaps confining 65 teenagers to a room for 3 ½ hours and asking them to produce an argument about something relevant in our lives is necessary to slow the millennial down and curb the social media storm that engulfs their young lives.
Today, my students reaffirm my belief in the goodness of people, while simultaneously cautioning me about the ease of unintentional symbolic violence we are capable of by our use of language.
Today I learned that language is not free; individuals must petition for access to that language. In turn, groups of people grant access to language through labeling—in-groups and out-groups emerge and “classification begins.”
Today I learned that there is commonality between the historically disenfranchised in this country and fleeing refugees; I learned that the “goldfish is circumscribed and confined by the fishbowl," but it is the size and shape of the fishbowl that ultimately determines the future of the fish. Simplistic or profound? Consider how confined you feel in cramped spaces—we all need room to grow.
Today I am impressed with the future leaders of my profession; today I saw their potential through the ideas set forth in their prose. Call me overly optimistic, I’ll take it. "A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty." Small Victories!
Tonight I am thankful that I have learned much about world around me through the writing and interactions with my students. I am happy and proud to contribute to The Long Gray Line.
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