Success is measured in many ways. Success is defined as the accomplishment of an aim or purpose. What is the accomplishment? What is the aim or purpose?
This is graduation season, and we are reminded that education is a sign of success.
My oldest grandson graduated high school three years ago and headed off to the United States Marines Corp. aiming to raise money to further his education. Traveling around the world for the first time, he has now returned to the states and continues his studies as a chef through the Corps.
This past weekend I celebrated the graduation of my second grandson from high school in Michigan. A recognized scholar and a champion wrestler, he is headed to a notable college in central Michigan. His graduating class of more than 500 was reminded, in an address from their class president, of four students who passed during their senior year, and they were encouraged to keep hope alive and reach for education and success in the future.
Thinking of the different paths these grandsons have chosen, I saw again that college is not for everyone, but everyone desires continuing education and the opportunity to experience this education.
Even in this season of celebration, I’m troubled by events here and abroad. In Warren Township, where four of my grandchildren attend high school, Warren Central students were recently forced to deal with the loss of two classmates. Students had to quickly learn to deal with the results of gun violence that took their classmates.
In Manchester, England, 22 lives were lost as a suicide bomber targeted an Ariana Grande concert. The victims were young people or those chaperoning them. An education quickly took place around the world, and even here in the Martindale-Brightwood (M.B.) area, on how the handle grief that comes from just living in this often-dark world. We were touched here as one of the adults killed in Manchester was a family member of a M.B. resident.
Who can claim success in these trying circumstances? Are these the educations we want to claim as successes? Is there a way to really stop the violence? What can we learn from all of this?
Grande gathered some of pop’s biggest names last Sunday for a tribute concert to help deal with the pain, and I was moved by the words of a young man we have often called troubled himself. After singing “Love Yourself,” Justin Bieber said, “I’m not going to let go of hope. I’m not going to let go of love. I’m not going to let go of God.”
He added, “God is good in the midst of the darkness, God is good in the midst of the evil, God is in the midst no matter what is happening in the world. God is in the midst, and he loves you and he’s here for you.”
These words encouraged me. They brought hope back to hopeless situations. I was reminded of a James Baldwin quote: “Children have never been very good at listening to their elders, but they have never failed to imitate them.”
This phrase begged the question, what am I modeling for students in these troubling times? How am I helping them to define success? It is a reminder that the days of “do as I say and not as I do” are long gone. I think the education and quest for success is the duty of the adults first, so that the children have a success to model. Why should society/M.B. feel responsible only for the education of children, and not for the education of all adults of every age?
In M.B., we are concerned about education and success of the young and the old. Students in M.B. represent many stages of life and types of education. Vocational programs are growing. Edna Martin is offering free training and certifications in manufacturing logistics and culinary arts. Martindale Brightwood Community Development Corporation, in partnership with Business Ownership Initiatives and Small Business Administration, are offering free entrepreneurship workshops. M.B. is trying to redefine education and success.
Congratulations to the high school, college, vocational and life graduates that are residents, workers and worshipers in and of the area! I celebrate your education, success and hopeful resolve!
God is in the midst, and he loves you and he’s here for you.
Martindale-Brightwood, a neighborhood bettering its Quality of Life, joins its past, people, organizations, churches, schools and businesses. For more information or to schedule a tour of the area, contact Gina Fears, Neighborhood Engagement Coordinator, at (317) 637-3776.
