this would be more fun with visual aids...
I'll see if I can find a grad. pic. Hah...the glasses will be interesting.
the day I graduated from high school, and a most important day in my life. The fact that it was commencement, and the 175th graduating class could, in and of itself, make the day memorable, even remarkable. However, it was other events, and even more the insight gained and paths pursued because of this events that will make June 4th a day of reflection, possibly for the rest of my life.
Scene--It was a lovely morning and I was dressed in white, traditional for graduation from elite women's boarding schools. (I wore my mom's 1968 Irish Linen wedding dress, which was far more comfortable than some of the silk and poof numbers friends wore.) Line up was in 10 minutes, so I was in the TV room, killing time with someunderclasswomen . Flip, flip, flip....I don't even know who had the remote, but when I saw tanks with "breaking news" in the corner, I hollered for her to go back. And there it was: what I know now was the first, and probably some of the last, video feeds to come out of Beijing during the pro-democracy student uprising in Tienanmen Square. Then? I saw tanks and young people and heard screaming and saw soldiers. Whoever had the remote (Anna? I really don't recall) started to bitch about me being a stupid news junkie again, but her voice petered out as she saw the rest of us staring at the screen in such shock.
We hadn't been watching for more that a minute when the door popped open and the assistant principal stuck her head in. She asked "don't you have somewhere better to be?" with a smirk that faded I suppose when she saw our faces. She came into the room, and I remember asking her what was going on because I didn't understand. Even though it was already two minutes past line-up, she sat down next to me, and really quietly said the best answer ever:
"I don't know. What have you seen?"
Those words, right there, were probably one of the biggest reasons that I became a teacher. Trudy knew the value of a teachable moment unconsciously , and knew that some things have to be experienced and not explained. Even though we were late, she sat and watched with us until the TV station broke away for station identification and the like. Granted, it was only 3 or 4 minutes, but it was huge. Her staying, saying she didn't know, and asking what we had seen is a tableau that is etched in my brain, 19 years later. I aspire to have that kind of presence and kid-focused practicality always in my teaching life...hell, in my whole life.
The strangest part about all this now is how recent 19 years ago seems to me. It isn't ancient history...it's past, sure, but not hugely so. My graduation speaker (yes, it does pertain) was Jane Fonda, one of our more illustrious alumna. With her presence on campus came protesters outside the gates, Vietnam Veterans with air horns and signs proclaiming about Hanoi Jane. My classmates and I were perplexed...I mean, that was such an incredibly long time ago...why were they still mad? She was a kid then, and now, hell, she's old! The pictures that caused the controversy?
From July, 1972. Less than 17 years before our graduation. Time flow certainly changes with age.
the day I graduated from high school, and a most important day in my life. The fact that it was commencement, and the 175th graduating class could, in and of itself, make the day memorable, even remarkable. However, it was other events, and even more the insight gained and paths pursued because of this events that will make June 4th a day of reflection, possibly for the rest of my life.
Scene--It was a lovely morning and I was dressed in white, traditional for graduation from elite women's boarding schools. (I wore my mom's 1968 Irish Linen wedding dress, which was far more comfortable than some of the silk and poof numbers friends wore.) Line up was in 10 minutes, so I was in the TV room, killing time with someunderclasswomen . Flip, flip, flip....I don't even know who had the remote, but when I saw tanks with "breaking news" in the corner, I hollered for her to go back. And there it was: what I know now was the first, and probably some of the last, video feeds to come out of Beijing during the pro-democracy student uprising in Tienanmen Square. Then? I saw tanks and young people and heard screaming and saw soldiers. Whoever had the remote (Anna? I really don't recall) started to bitch about me being a stupid news junkie again, but her voice petered out as she saw the rest of us staring at the screen in such shock.
We hadn't been watching for more that a minute when the door popped open and the assistant principal stuck her head in. She asked "don't you have somewhere better to be?" with a smirk that faded I suppose when she saw our faces. She came into the room, and I remember asking her what was going on because I didn't understand. Even though it was already two minutes past line-up, she sat down next to me, and really quietly said the best answer ever:
"I don't know. What have you seen?"
Those words, right there, were probably one of the biggest reasons that I became a teacher. Trudy knew the value of a teachable moment unconsciously , and knew that some things have to be experienced and not explained. Even though we were late, she sat and watched with us until the TV station broke away for station identification and the like. Granted, it was only 3 or 4 minutes, but it was huge. Her staying, saying she didn't know, and asking what we had seen is a tableau that is etched in my brain, 19 years later. I aspire to have that kind of presence and kid-focused practicality always in my teaching life...hell, in my whole life.
The strangest part about all this now is how recent 19 years ago seems to me. It isn't ancient history...it's past, sure, but not hugely so. My graduation speaker (yes, it does pertain) was Jane Fonda, one of our more illustrious alumna. With her presence on campus came protesters outside the gates, Vietnam Veterans with air horns and signs proclaiming about Hanoi Jane. My classmates and I were perplexed...I mean, that was such an incredibly long time ago...why were they still mad? She was a kid then, and now, hell, she's old! The pictures that caused the controversy?
From July, 1972. Less than 17 years before our graduation. Time flow certainly changes with age.