Enter the Mentor
As a teacher at Greenville Technical College, I am well acquainted with the expressions of need that travel across the many faces of our student body. From the anxious look of the job seeker to the indifferent look of the unmotivated, there is an unspoken plea for guidance that shadows the unsure student. The valuable qualities of initiative, confidence and resolve tend to saddle up beside us in good days, and linger in the distance when the ride is rough.
Derailed by disappointment, we entrust our direction to the compass needle of economic recovery and wait for the train of prosperity to return. However, in our return to better days, the seeds of success are not going to be those we plant in the fields of economic toil, but the substance we cultivate in the fiber of the individual.
As a community college, Greenville Tech is by nature a "Yes" place. We say yes to those who would likely earn a less favorable response from other institutions. Success is the responsibility of the individual, but is more likely to happen in an environment that encourages it, calls for it and entrains it. And that's where "yes, you can" people come into play. Whether it is an educational environment or a small business endeavor, we depend on others to hold up a lantern of light, encouragement and direction along our path. Success and failure are two tracks that run side by side, and in difficult times the difference between these tracks is often hard to distinguish without a watchman. A good teacher, a good mentor, a good cheerleader, is a firm fixture on every successful journey. Whatever the form of the helping hand, or whatever the hold it takes, what matters most is that it is extended.
Optimism is the DNA of America. But America is napping too much of late, and optimism does not thrive on a diet of caution and overanalysis. We need some of that old-fashioned "why not" soup that nurtured previous generations whom to this day remain the most fervent warriors for action and commitment. In a 21st century that requires us to learn, unlearn and relearn, knowledge is a volatile currency, and action and resolve are our anchors. Unfortunately, consuming rather than creating has occupied much of our recent era, and diluted much of the industrious blood that once ran through our veins. Through lack of practice, we have un-worked ourselves into a position of doubt, and stored away our sense of self-reliance. In a society that rewards self-absorption and promotes wealth without work, we want the creation without the craft. Reclaiming our identity as a nation of go-getters is a journey whose time has come, and it is the conductor of encouragement who will guide us there.
The "yes, you can" voice is alive and well among us. You will hear it in the unrelenting smile that defines the resilient face of strong mothers. You will hear it in the entreating of wishful children who run there ahead of us. And you will hear it in the affirming grasp of aging men who have been there many times. But you won't hear it on the island of "inertia" or in prison cells of our own creation guarded by "don't" and "can't."
In days ahead, look for the "yes" that drives our universe. It is truly a powerful force that moves meaningfully across our existence, activated in countless little exchanges of kindness and love.