Hard Work

I have always depended on my own effort to help me accomplish the goals I set for myself. I am a die-hard believer in working hard. In elementary school I was a newspaper boy. In junior high school I worked in government job programs. I stocked shelves at the grocery store in high school. The Marine Corps had me signed up before I left high school. I served for four years to the day, and came back home, and reclaimed my job at the grocery store.

Prison work did not scare me (usually), as I was in shape, and felt I was mentally strong from being in the roughest, toughest service. It took a lot of mental fortitude, but I worked as a correctional officer for the State of Illinois for more than six years It was hard to abandon the financial comfort of that job, and leave for college at the age of thirty. I had decided that I was not meeting my personal potential. I also wanted to be able to actually help people before they were incarcerated. I wanted to be a teacher. I had learned that I also needed to work smart. It is apparent to me that various types of work are valued differently. The financial value society assigns to the profession of teaching is a travesty, but good teachers lead with their hearts, and worry about the dollars later. My entire life experience has reinforced my belief in the value of hard work. There are however, may people who work hard, here, and all around the world, who do not get much for their hard work.

Paradigms are changing and globalization is eroding the number and quality of living wage jobs on our shores. Michigan has been especially hard hit by the shrinkage of automobile industry market share. I see challenges ahead for our kids, many that I do not, and cannot, totally understand. I say all of this to illustrate why my students sometimes feel that I am hard on them. I am, because I am worried about them getting their best opportunity in life. When our young generation fails to achieve their highest opportunities, policy makers look at their failures, to help them decide how many jail cells we will need for them.

By: Contrail

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