Teach for Mali

I remember...

It's the spring of 2000 and I'm only a few days away from my high school graduation. Bobby Snow, a mild mannered classmate of mine, who I have gone to school with for as long as I can remember, comes up to me.

Bobby is wickedly smart in the most humble of ways and has a slight stuttering problem that almost goes unnoticed on most days. However, he has somehow found a way to balance being a stutterer, a usually made-fun-of trait of a high schooler with being thought of a "cool kid." While at the time I had never thought about it much, Bobby really knew how to play the game of high school.

"So, wha-what are you g-g-going to study in college, Pat?" he asks in the most non-judgmental of ways.

"I'm not sure yet, Bobby. I think I may want to teach," I responded not knowing for sure at all.

'Ww...well, that's good to hear, Pat, because, the w-world needs more smart people like you who are w-willing to teach."

I am so overcome with emotion by the innocence and sincerity in his comment that I could cry. But instead, I just thanked Bobby for his kind words and forgot about my aspirations to become a teacher for the next seven years.

I remember...
It's a hot, arid day in July 2007. I'm in Scottsdale, Arizona. I walk into the conference room of a villa in a five-star hotel to see a muscular man with long blonde hair tied in a ponytail sitting back in his chair with arms folded and eyes intently fixated on everyone in the room as they all listen to the poem coming to life from his i-pod speakers. The man is Taylor Mali, a former teacher (nine years), turned spoken word artist, who has challenged himself to inspire at least 1,000 people to become teachers after listening to his poems.

For the next three hours, Mr. Mali has delicately woven in sound bytes and teaching tips in with the opportunity for us to experience our own poetry and thoughts as if we were all his students in the fairytale of an ideal classroom. Of the many exercises that he asks us to do is one where we write as many detailed memories as we can about any moments of our lives. I did not think of Bobby Snow at the time, but when I sat down to do the exercise upon my return to Gaston, North Carolina in front of a computer, this was the first memory that came to my mind.

It's people like Bobby and Mr. Mali who inspire people to become teachers and to love it. However, there never seems to be enough - hence, why Mr. Mali is trying very hard to recruit one thousand more. Mr. Mali, a five-time US National Slam Poetry Champion is one of the most gifted spoken word artists I have ever seen and one of the most respected people in his profession. His work includes many poems about his experiences as a teacher that will make you laugh and cry, and then do both at the same time. And while I am already a teacher, by hearing his poems, I am even more convinced in my reasons to become and remain one. I strongly encourage you to check him out on his website. Though to really appreciate his poetry, you have to see and hear it, which is why I suggest you check him out on Youtube. Perhaps, you will be one of the one thousand future teachers that he will inspire.

I cannot help but laugh when I think about a future student with Bobby's same stuttering trying to say my name, "Mr. W-w-wu." But I cannot help but be inspired in imagining that same student one day becoming a teacher. For all the "Bobby Snow"s and "Taylor Mali"s in the world, we owe it to them & the world to inspire each other to teach.