Each morning during Leadership at College Prep, we contemplate lessons of life through current events, significant readings, or quotes from the great minds of significant worldly and spiritual leaders. In honor of Dr. Martin Luther King’s birthday, last week we set new goals and reflected on this idea:
Life’s most persistent question is, “What are you doing for others?”
Within each of us lies a profound purpose - our life’s mission. It is enlivened by our experiences, our friends, our mentors, our teachers, our parents. These are the elements that shape our thoughts and allow us to dream of things greater than our current awareness.
Dr. Martin Luther King is a wonderful example – he had a dream, and he set forth to make it a reality. A dream that was planted in his heart – one that he recognized…one that he believed in and fortified with his passion and his education. His innate curiosity and imagination led him to the people, and knowledge, and avenues, and ideas that manifested the miraculous March on Washington. This action created a shift in the way our nation views race, and ability, and compassion, and human rights, and the laws that protect them. This torch was passed on to Dr. King from those that came before him, just as he passed it on to many others that continue after him. His dream has lighted the way for many since.
Dr. King’s passion to make his dream a reality could have led to violence, more oppression, and greater division between races. However, his wisdom and commitment to good allowed his powerful lessons to come through without the might of destruction. He kept in the forefront his service to the greater good.
As we teach our children to set goals and dream of something greater than they can currently see or imagine, let us remind them to consider the impact of their actions on others. This can fortify their mission, serve others, and teach them the significance of being a mighty citizen of this community and beyond.
Empower your child’s dreams by guiding them to the necessary foundational knowledge and principles, and by surrounding them with the people who will support and build upon that foundation.
Around the dinner table, on family trips, reading together, and in communities - all are excellent times and places to begin dreaming the dream that will bring about significant changes.
This community is an environment where children can grow at their own paces, develop their passions, and be rewarded for pursuing their own excellence. A place to create and take ownership of their education, to find and cultivate personal passion and genius. Just as MLK set out to change the perspective on race, College Prep is changing perspectives on educating, learning, self-awareness, and how we nurture the nature in our most precious resources - children.
I have a dream that the children in this program will be the changes we wish to see in the world.