First post ever is here just to say hey, thanks for logging in.
Right now, I want my kids to be thinking about the kind of students they want to be, and even what kind of people they want to be. Curiosity and willingness to pursue knowledge are beautiful things. Open and inquisitive people are interesting to be around; they are attractive.
My juniors are getting to write narratives about feeling ambivalent, and feeling pressured to act against their values, like Orwell did in “Shooting an Elephant,” and my seniors are writing commencement addresses, delivering a nugget of pure unadulterated truth to their peers as they step out into their lives after high school.
Both tasks are daunting. Both prompts prepare students to write the most important essay of their lives so far: the personal statement — an essay that requires kids to dig in, and asks them: What are you about? What matters? What have you learned in your time here on Planet Earth?
May we always ask these questions — at 17, 37, 57, at 77 and beyond — and continue to revise our answers, and to struggle toward understanding.
