Cartharsis. That is what I experienced today grading your
papers. As many of you know, I have two eleven-year old boys in elementary
school. We can all share in the profound sadness and mourn this latest American
tragedy, but most of you do not yet have children and therefore you have only
been on the receiving end of the umbilical cord of parenting. Please try to be
kind to the parents and families around you because anyone who has been a
parent is experiencing an especially wrenching connection to the families who lost children on Friday in Connecticut. As parents, if we allow ourselves to really
‘feel’ this tragedy, we will experience in every child lost, the importance and fragility of the lives
of our own children, but we also feel a deep-lodged, almost physical, (spiritual? soulful? cosmic?) and unshakeable pain for the loss of innocence itself, which is what makes this act of violence so
very difficult to process. The popular British adage of “Keep Calm and Carry On” feels inadequate in the face of this very homegrown version of American sadness,
although this is not to say that the British do not understand or have not endured their fair
share of violence. However, this is our inexplicable violence, one of our own against our own, and thus this act evokes further, deeper sadness and requires further, deeper reflection.
As I read your work, I read through the lens of this latest event (how could I not?) and I saw that you are on the path to a greater understanding of the world around you. Your letters, conceived and written long before this
tragedy, examine some of the very real and very modern problems we face as a
society. Your research, your honesty, your deep reflection gains even further meaning in
the context of our experience in the classroom together. As your teacher, I
represent a generation (AKA Generation X) and so I teach you from a perspective different from your own (both important: both connected) and I
understand that in teaching you I am also attempting (as best I can) to pass
the torch from my generation to your generation.You are adults now and you will soon hold that precious flame. Your writing on
these important issues assures me that we will all be in capable, compassionate
and competent hands.
That your work is available for public consumption is so important to me, especially when as a nation we are searching for an explanation, some understanding, or perhaps a lesson to be learned. Your letters represent perspectives that help us to process the world we have created, to understand where we need to go, and on a deeper level your writing even helps us make sense of the seemingly unimaginable tragedy that has occurred. I can only hope your work reaches the greater audience for we would be a better nation if we all read your honest reflections on where we stand as a society today.
That your work is available for public consumption is so important to me, especially when as a nation we are searching for an explanation, some understanding, or perhaps a lesson to be learned. Your letters represent perspectives that help us to process the world we have created, to understand where we need to go, and on a deeper level your writing even helps us make sense of the seemingly unimaginable tragedy that has occurred. I can only hope your work reaches the greater audience for we would be a better nation if we all read your honest reflections on where we stand as a society today.
I would like to commend you all for your efforts, but
especially the following students for their excellent work on the Final
Project:
- Daniel E’s letter to a young man about the pressure of manhood
- Christina I's letter to her nine-year-old brother about being true to himself
- Benjamin M. and his global analysis on media control and the “gender gap”
- Sam I's warning about gender pressure in America
- Jacob I's letter to middle-schoolers about the hazards of media driven peer pressure
- Jack F's letter to young men about navigating technology and manhood
- Melissa S’s letter in support of her father’s aspirations to be a stay-at-home-dad
- Jessica Z’s letter to young adults about the“girl and boy codes”
- Jayden N’s portrait of equality in the context of inequality
- Kelly L's report on the effects of media culture, body image and violence
- Veronica V's personal plea to a young American model
- Jacqueline C. on American “rape culture”
- Ruby C. on the prevalence of eating disorders in American ballet
- Emilio C-G on the need for increased funding for education in poor neighborhoods
- Shawn V's heartfelt letter about the downsides of a “Barbie Doll” society
Thank you all for a great semester at Cabrillo College!
Class Average: 87.7 %
Median: 91.9 %
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