Inspired and Motivated.

Last Friday we were supposed to meet with high school students from Tilden High School for a student panel. Unfortunately the plans didn't go through, and the students were not able to visit us. But we still did use our time wisely. We prepared ourselves and discussed about more background information of educational inequalities within Chicago. We were told to watch three videos and reflect upon them our feelings and thoughts about these certain topics. 

The first video was called "Explaining the Inequalities in Education in Chicago". This video is based more on the statistics related to the school-to-prison pipeline and difficulties within the families that are struggling in this area. As much as it is sad and disappointing to listen to these statistics, I really enjoyed watching this video. It opens ones eyes to what is really going on within our education system. This video touches base with every side of this issue mentioning struggles of the teachers, students, parents, and the government. My favorite part of the video is the end when the woman says, "The question is not who is to blame, the question is, what are we going to do about this?" This is directed towards the audience, towards society as a whole, towards us. We must stand up and do something about this issue.

The second video was of a student enrolled in a CPS school, Malcolm X. London, reciting his poem about what his education in a CPS school means to him. This video, "Louder Than a  Bomb: High School Training Ground," really touched my heart. I found it very interesting how he refers to the Chicago Public Schools as a training ground where "oceans of adolescents come here to receive lessons but never learn to swim." He believes that Chicago Public schools are doing what they are made to do, only to train these adolescents. Whether or not these students have learned and are actually prepared and ready for what is to come in the future doesn't really matter to these schools, as long as the training is done.  He not only touches the surface of the issues and problems but goes deep into it and expresses what is really happening within. I respect Malcolm X. London for being able to speak out for what he really believes about his society and expanding his beliefs to the whole community. 

I have seen many videos that go along the same lines as the third video we were told to watch, "Inspiration: How Bad Do You Want It? (Success)." This video was unique and really stood out for me. He isn't directly telling the audience what to do and how to do it, but he is telling a story and connecting it with the audience. In the video, one word was repeated a lot.. Success. The raised a question in my mind, "What really is success?" To me, success is a lot of things. Success is doing something to the best of your ability and doing it with a purpose that you are proud of. "If you want to succeed as badly as you want to breathe, then you will be successful." This is my favorite line from the video. To me, that means that if you're going to do something and accomplish something, you need to do it with everything inside of you. 

Next week we are definitely having a student panel with the students from the other high school, Amundsen High School. I can not wait to actually get things started with these students and to be able to work with them on an issue that our STARS LEAD group is very passionate about. I am excited to share my story and my experiences with the students and to hear what they have to say about the issues surrounding them.