I was asked what my passion was recently and I had mixed feelings because I did not know? I had to question what happened to me? Why do I not know my passions? Am I less of a person because I do not know? What I do know is this is not a question that will be answered over night, but instead with time.
What I can say is when I was in my teenage years; I grew up taking care of my younger brothers. My life and focus was on their happiness and their well-being. When I left New York and came to Texas for school I met, my husband, and my world changed when we had children together. All my focus and desires for myself I placed on hold. I was a new mother and that was first priority in my life. One day I looked up and I had three children and a husband. I had children’s extracurricular activities, bills, household task, events related to holidays and birthdays. I had special occasions, and events needing family appearances, and the time for myself became a luxury. I became a mother, wife, house cleaner, chef, activities director, secretary, referee, accountant, event planner, and along the madness a student at TJC and UT Tyler.
Now the assignment is blog about “What is your Passion?” I love children. I wish education were better for them. Education today is not the same kind of education we received growing up. I remember coming home from school with a TEXTBOOK in every subject. My children come home with sheets of paper and no textbook to help guide them. They go to a good school for the Tyler Texas area. The school is sending fundraiser forms home every week and my question is where is the money going if not to textbooks or library books. My child brought home a library book so old you could smell its ancientness.
As I begin to find my passion, I will start to look at things that distress me to extreme limits. I will look at things that given the opportunity, I would change in a New York minute. Education for children seems to be an ongoing issue all over the world, The problem is not just in East Texas it is a problem globally. One of the NGO’s dealing with education is TEACH FOR AMERICA. CEO and Founder Wendy Kopp, set goal is to help children get the education needed to be successful in future endeavors. It describes how we can – and must – provide an excellent education for kids in low-income communities. With me wanting to become a teacher this could be a direction I may want to take working with children in schools were education is vital to change economic outcomes in children’s lives. (http://www.teachforamerica.org/our-organization)
SAIDE, is the South African Institute for Distance Education, is a non-governmental organization based in Johannesburg. SAIDE is conducting projects throughout South Africa and sub-Saharan Africa. SAIDE’s goal is to provide to the development of new models of open and distance education practice, that deal with and take forward the values, principles, and goals of the evolving education systems in the Southern African region. It has also paid particular attention to the appropriate use of technology in education and most recently established a Kenya-based initiative, OER Africa, to promote the development and sharing of OER on the African continent. (http://www.saide.org.za/AboutUs/tabid/1431/Default.aspx)
Education is important to me since having children. I feel that I took some of the educational opportunities I had for granted as a youth. That is why I infuse the importance in my home with my children. I would hate another child not to have access to a good education or to not appreciate the power of a good education.
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