Renewing a Dream

“I can honestly say, I wouldn’t be teaching if it were not for the Landmark Forum and the courses I took here. I wanted to make a difference in the world. I wanted to make a difference with students. I wanted them to love literature. I love literature. I wanted to empower them to have voices and they didn’t seem to want to be empowered. And the education system didn’t seem to want to help me to empower them. And my paycheck definitely encouraged me to leave. Coming back into that classroom after I took this course [Landmark Forum] I can honestly tell you I wouldn’t rather be anywhere else in the world right now. I really wouldn’t. For me walking back into the classroom, nothing had changed. Nothing. It was the same situation, the same education system- everything that I had become resigned about. Yet my entire world was different. I could see each individual face. I could hear each individual student. It was a completely different experience. Totally different in my classroom.”

Being Someone Who Makes a Difference

“When I first moved in I knew no one in the building and I wasn’t really certain of meeting people. I am not very quick to meet people but I got to know each and ever person who lived in that building. I got to know them in a way that I got to be their champion and I got to be for them.

There were some situations that, you know, weren’t advantageous. You know the landlord and the management were kind of strict and hard and would immediately come down on you for any infraction. You paid one day late and they would send you a three day notice that you were gonna be evicted. It was just really crazy- a little ridiculous in how they were managing the apartment building. But there was a man there, one man in particular who did not have a lot of money. He was used to couple who had owned the building before and with this new owner he was just uncertain if he was going to be able to live there anymore. He didn’t have any other place to go. He din’t have many options given his limited income. He was an older man, probably over sixty, over sixty-five. He was not well health-wise and he was just on the line. He was barely making it so he wanted to some security and stability, to know he was going to have a place to live. I made sure he got taken care of. I made sure that I spoke up for him if he needed that. I made sure people were being fair about the management of the building. I made sure the landlord was being fair. In circumstances where I wouldn’t have normally spoken up, I spoke up.

Participating in Landmark’s programs [The Landmark Forum] allowed me to know myself to be someone who makes a real difference. I get to make that kind of difference with other people everyday.

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