Perhaps it’s because I’m an introvert but I’m sometimes amazed when I watch people step over others to receive some sort of recognition for what they’re trying to accomplish in helping others and I really don’t understand it, maybe it’s a personality flaw on my part because I realize I’m not perfect and I think you should deflect attention anyways. Sometimes I think maybe these types of people should take a step back and ask themselves if they only do the work if it comes with some sort of reward.
My husband and I have advocated not only for our children, but other children for a while now and frankly, it’s embarrassing when attention is brought to it because that’s not why we do it, we do it because it’s the right thing to do. I’ve had someone say that we were, moving mountains which, I guess, was meant to be a compliment, but that just helped me realize that the person I was communicating with was a windbag who likes to talk about getting things done instead of working to get things done because there is no mountain moving on our part, we are just working to make things better for children like ours and if this person thought we were moving mountains, they should have jumped in to help. A compliment is a compliment, I get that, but when the moving mountains hyperbole starts flying, I duck because it’s just bunk and I’d prefer they move on and blow smoke somewhere else or tell me how they’re working to make a difference. That may well be a class difference, I was raised by a working class family who didn't talk a lot about doing things, they saw the problems and worked to fix them. My parents didn't have money to throw at issues, they gave their time. My father was a volunteer football coach and my mother was right with him helping to raise money for uniforms, helmets, etc. They gave their time to kids that came from the same project they both were in and out of when they were growing up. Trust me, they never thought they were moving mountains, they just knew help was needed and gave it.
I trained to tutor children with reading issues whose families most likely don’t have the resources to spend on specialized tutoring and there’s no pomp and circumstance for doing so. I get the satisfaction of communicating with teachers and parents and seeing and hearing about the progress that is being made and knowing that a student I'm working with is able to pass the Read to Achieve Assessment. Sometimes I even receive beautiful artwork like this, which I proudly hang on my wall.
My husband and I have advocated not only for our children, but other children for a while now and frankly, it’s embarrassing when attention is brought to it because that’s not why we do it, we do it because it’s the right thing to do. I’ve had someone say that we were, moving mountains which, I guess, was meant to be a compliment, but that just helped me realize that the person I was communicating with was a windbag who likes to talk about getting things done instead of working to get things done because there is no mountain moving on our part, we are just working to make things better for children like ours and if this person thought we were moving mountains, they should have jumped in to help. A compliment is a compliment, I get that, but when the moving mountains hyperbole starts flying, I duck because it’s just bunk and I’d prefer they move on and blow smoke somewhere else or tell me how they’re working to make a difference. That may well be a class difference, I was raised by a working class family who didn't talk a lot about doing things, they saw the problems and worked to fix them. My parents didn't have money to throw at issues, they gave their time. My father was a volunteer football coach and my mother was right with him helping to raise money for uniforms, helmets, etc. They gave their time to kids that came from the same project they both were in and out of when they were growing up. Trust me, they never thought they were moving mountains, they just knew help was needed and gave it.
I trained to tutor children with reading issues whose families most likely don’t have the resources to spend on specialized tutoring and there’s no pomp and circumstance for doing so. I get the satisfaction of communicating with teachers and parents and seeing and hearing about the progress that is being made and knowing that a student I'm working with is able to pass the Read to Achieve Assessment. Sometimes I even receive beautiful artwork like this, which I proudly hang on my wall.
If you have a lot of awards to hang on your wall and enjoy the recognition you get while working toward helping others by all means, enjoy it, hang your awards up and be proud, you’ve worked hard to receive them, just make sure you're not one of the people who pushes others out of the way to be in the front row of the picture because there is plenty of volunteer work to go around.
We’ve met some wonderful people who couldn’t care less if anyone knows who they are or why they do what they do, but then there are some who would just as soon, step on your head to get past you to reach their goal. We need to get away from calling ourselves warriors or heroes for just being decent and refocus on doing the work. If you think about it, is going around and speaking at conferences where the parents have the means to afford: Travel, lodging and cost of the conference the best way to make a difference? I don’t know, but maybe some of that knowledge could be shared with parents who can’t afford the conference costs, parents who have children in schools that have high drop-out rates and poor performing schools where the work might not get as much press coverage or acknowledgement but it's needed. If you already take your time to do this, thank you. If you don’t, will you consider?
Maybe, just a reminder to take a little step back and ask yourself, do you work hard to make a difference even when no one is watching?
We’ve met some wonderful people who couldn’t care less if anyone knows who they are or why they do what they do, but then there are some who would just as soon, step on your head to get past you to reach their goal. We need to get away from calling ourselves warriors or heroes for just being decent and refocus on doing the work. If you think about it, is going around and speaking at conferences where the parents have the means to afford: Travel, lodging and cost of the conference the best way to make a difference? I don’t know, but maybe some of that knowledge could be shared with parents who can’t afford the conference costs, parents who have children in schools that have high drop-out rates and poor performing schools where the work might not get as much press coverage or acknowledgement but it's needed. If you already take your time to do this, thank you. If you don’t, will you consider?
Maybe, just a reminder to take a little step back and ask yourself, do you work hard to make a difference even when no one is watching?