It Begins...

In education, they are the outliers...the ones that come from a place that few truly understand. They are not the "normal" student...whatever that is.  They are the ones that come from a place of challenge, of trauma, of fears, of hopelessness, of labels placed on them since the day they were born by ones that have not walked in their path, and lack understanding, compassion, and the mindset that these are the students that actually have the capacity to overcome obstacles that few can even understand or comprehend. They have the intellect, and the drive for that which they see as important, as relevant, as critical in the survival of their world, but do they have the hope that who they are can challenge the labels, the assumptions, the words that have attacked their being since the day they arrived...do they believe that their journey is one that has the potential to create the greatest impact that could in the end...change their lives.

They are the outliers...the ones with the greatest potential for impact...if we give them the opportunity to see themselves as such....not as trouble, not as the least likely to suceed, not as hopeless, but as change agents in their world...thus, it begins...