“Don’t you know—they’re talking about a revolution”

The same feeling validates everything all over for me each time it comes along.

It's been missing for a little while; I have been privately wondering if everything that I think I am supposed to be doing is a conception in my head, more of a want than a purpose.

This morning it came back like it was never gone, and I'm here in my room in our apartment feeling fulfilled. Satisfied. More than anything, excited.

Maria and I were working through some math problems today and she was really struggling at the beginning. She was getting confused with place values and then putting a large number into expanded notation. I was trying to find an understandable way of explaining the concept, but nothing was really working. And then, it just clicked. She was able to explain to me why something would be rounded a certain way, and how you had to consider each number when figuring out a problem.

I am excited that my life could be (and has been, really) full of moments like this. The best part is, it really is not about me at all. It's about them. It's about sharing the process of the learning, the chance to exchange stories, the ability to just connect and laugh together.

By no means am I a revolutionary.

Just because I like to be around kids and teach them, love them, hold them—all of this doesn't mean I am going to change the inherent problems of the education system in America, the global inaccessibility for many poor children across the globe, or the cruel poverty of places all over the world.

I've been naïve. In many ways I still am. But, I have also learnt a lot in my young life, and I know that changing one life, having an impact on just one individual, this does not equate to large change. Yes, I know that. However, why not try? Why not live your life and try to make just one child happy for a moment? Or maybe teach them something that might stick with them for the course of a week, a year, or their life? To me, that's worth everything. I think in so many ways we can all have this calling. Maybe mine might be on the sports field teaching young girls how to play a sport, but yours could be elsewhere. It could be in the archives, it could be in a clinic, it could be in a classroom, it could be in the office, it could be on Wall Street, it could be right in your own home.

There really isn't a reason not to try.

I have been reading a lot about Mary Bethune for one of my classes this semester. Mary Bethune was a woman full of strength, wit, and absolute determination. She was a teacher and a civil rights activist beginning in the very early years of the 20^th century. She led many organizations to bring together African American women and she believed whole-heartedly in the power of learning. She once said,

"from the first, I made my learning, what little it was, useful every way I could."

Mary Bethune was the daughter of slaves in South Carolina and even as early as the age of 5, she had to work in the fields with her parents. This sparked her to take a strong interest and investment in her own education. She took her own initiative, she learnt to read and write, and turned this around the rest of her life, teaching young girls and boys how to do the same. She is known for a lot of things, but what I admire about her most is her unquestioned willingness to share her knowledge, life, and love to young children who may otherwise not have the chance to grow and learn the way she did.

She had that kind of calling. A lot of people do. Maybe the hardest part is not discovering what you are meant to do, but following through with it.

I am excited about my life. I like saying that. I like truly believing that. Sometimes, I just get stuck in what the next plan is, what makes the most sense, and what situation provides the most security.

That's not me, though. I'm moving forward with where I think I belong, where I just might be called to, and where I can do the best in offering my very best self.