Is The Grass Greener On The Other Side?
I have lived in Baltimore practically all my life. I went to elementary, middle, high school, and college here. As a native, I have been able to see a lot of progressive changes over the years as well as certain things I think will never be fixed. Growing up here everyone was like me; Baltimore was all we knew and not many people ventured in or out. But over the past 10 years Baltimore has become a transient town and we are becoming a desirable place to live.
For the longest time this has troubled me. I used to always ask myself “why would anyone want to move to this stinkin old town.” I blamed my city for being hungry, bored, scared, and alone. Every time things got bad I would tell myself “if I could just escape this town, my life would be better.” And that is what I did. I moved to several different states: North, South, East, and West. Every time I tried to escape, I would yearn for my home town Baltimore. Luckily, there was always this invisible chain that would bring me home.
Now that I am an adult who has developed deep roots in the community, I realize how naive it was of me to blame my geography. Life has taught me if you look for the bad and negative you will always find it. But if you look for the good and positive you will always find that too! I have chosen to stop looking for the mystical “greener grass” and instead work on the issues I can change. Although it has taken majority of my life to realize it, I love my hometown Baltimore and I hope you will to.
For the longest time this has troubled me. I used to always ask myself “why would anyone want to move to this stinkin old town.” I blamed my city for being hungry, bored, scared, and alone. Every time things got bad I would tell myself “if I could just escape this town, my life would be better.” And that is what I did. I moved to several different states: North, South, East, and West. Every time I tried to escape, I would yearn for my home town Baltimore. Luckily, there was always this invisible chain that would bring me home.
Now that I am an adult who has developed deep roots in the community, I realize how naive it was of me to blame my geography. Life has taught me if you look for the bad and negative you will always find it. But if you look for the good and positive you will always find that too! I have chosen to stop looking for the mystical “greener grass” and instead work on the issues I can change. Although it has taken majority of my life to realize it, I love my hometown Baltimore and I hope you will to.
Just Ms. Understood
ReplyDeleteIt's almost as if I lived under a rock my whole life. I am a Baltimore native and educated by Baltimore City Public School System from K-12. When I went to college in the Fall 08 I immediately became a reading and math tutor for Govans Elementary. Govans neighborhood is extremely close to my neighborhood so I knew I would be able to relate to my students. For the most part, this was true but I wasn't aware of the economical, social, or psychological influences from the neighborhood. I would see students come to school hungry, tired, messy clothes, and just not engaged in the lessons. I just assumed, "these students don't want to be here, they need to get their attitudes together." I was ignoring the influences that were brought into the classroom. I let my own biases get in the way of really getting to know the students. I eventually found myself judging the students and not taking the time to understand. It wasn't until a student came to school crying and I took him in the hallway to see what was wrong. He started off by saying "I hate my life Ms. Jones!" I was caught off guard. I Ms. Understood the students and their environments. I automatically assumed that the students had lives similar to mine. When in actuality, they face many adversities outside of school. What students experience today is totally different from what I experienced. How could I expect my students to be happy and engaged kids when they have these factors going on outside of school. I can't automatically assume that because we have similar backgrounds we all aren't going to share the same experiences. One has to leave your own biases at the door and understand the whole child in order to help and serve that student.