The importance of being an educator

As a child growing up in a West Indian household, I often heard “Silver and gold will vanish away but a good education will never decay.” This phrase often accompanied many lectures from my mother in which she drilled the importance of an education into the heads of my brothers and me. Over the years, these often repeated words have become somewhat of a mantra or a touch stone that keeps me focused on my many goals.
One of my goals is to become an educator. More importantly, I want to make a difference in the lives of young people. Growing up in the South Bronx, I saw first hand the hardships young people face when they lack both the direction and the motivation necessary to become successful students. Most of the time external as well as internal pressures are to be blamed. Sadly there are instances where the problem begins in the classroom. Students are unchallenged, unmotivated or just bored. Lessons and hom...