we admire the beauty of a butterfly but
rarely do we admit the changes it has
undergone to achieve such beauty maya
angelou to me the phrase speaks to the
sum is only as good as its parts and if
I am the sum then I am only as good as
the parts speaking specifically to the
people who poured into me I like to call
it grant and grace the people who have
impacted in my life did it in four
specific ways belief wisdom love and
light to me they poured into me with
belief in terms of what I would give up
they would take the time to remind me
that I have to continue going that they
believed in me and that my future was
just something I couldn’t see it wisdom
they would always share with me things
that I needed to do to be better to
reach higher to achieve my goals love
that was unconditional even in terms of
making mistakes because when I did all
they would remind me of is that mistakes
are absolutely part of the journey to
success and light when I couldn’t see
where it is I was going they would
remind me of my future
you see it’s essential for us to realize
that education is reciprocal sometimes
you’re the teacher and sometimes you’re
the student and if we’re wise enough to
understand that we teach that to
children when they’re young that there
are absolutely going to be times that
I’m going to pour into you and they’re
absolutely going to be times that you
pour into me I’m gonna share with you
several stories that helps illustrate my
point on my path when I was young I was
in high school and there was one
particular teacher
her name was Miss Kali she was about
five-six blond hair Caucasian woman and
she taught religion class and I hated
that class but more importantly at that
time I kind of hated school because I
had to actually go to class and work
hard but that was fine because I knew
that my mom had very high expectations
and so failure was never an option so I
would go to class quietly marginalize
myself sit off to the side do my work
and not say much you see the school I
went to I was one of three
african-american students and I wasn’t
wealthy or even near there
so as I went through my educational
experience I quickly understood what
that meant for me in that context and so
instead of allowing others to
marginalize me I marginalized myself and
so one day after class and his colleague
pulled me aside and she said you know I
noticed that you’re clearly a good
student because you do all your
assignments but you don’t speak in class
instead typically you’ll write their
assignment and you hand it in I need you
to understand that your writing is
prolific and so as you go through and
continue to do this you need to
understand that that’s a way you can
express yourself so for lack of time and
better words I was like okay great yeah
I get it
uh-huh I understand it as any other
teenager would do I ran out the door and
hope she’d never bother me again but she
did and so shortly thereafter within the
next couple of weeks she took the time
to pull me aside again to say I don’t
really know why you withdraw from class
but what I know for sure is that you’re
going somewhere and so perhaps part of
my job is to help you realize your
potential if you can’t see it and so the
funny thing as an adult now is I realize
that teachers have this amazing gift
where they actually can see how far
we’re gonna go but as a child you don’t
always see it so she said you know what
instead of talking about it I’m not
gonna ask you too many questions what
you need to do is write about it because
your writing is incredible write it even
if only to yourself and when you write
it throw it away give it away speak it
to something but allow that to help you
gain your freedom and
so the short end of that is that it took
me some time to realize that apparently
I did have a gift for writing and so I
continued to write a lot through life
and when I would hit really difficult
bumps in the road that would be my
moment to free myself from myself and so
that teacher inspired me to realize
several things but one most importantly
that I am the one who has the
opportunity to free myself but that she
cared enough that despite why I did or
did not engage in her class she
understood that I absolutely had purpose
and that part of her journey was just to
tap me on the shoulder and remind me of
that my second experience that I want to
share with you was my freshman year in
college I was a here up student and and
so I didn’t really understand why we had
to go to this whole summer thing like
what is this summer Academy I don’t
wanna go there I want to be home hanging
out and so part of the the part of what
we had to do was actually go and spend
six weeks in a summer course and so I
arrived I went to class and when I
walked into a class I looked at the
teacher and I knew many many things but
two things for sure that he was no joke
and then I was probably gonna work
harder than I never worked in my life
and I didn’t really know if I like that
too much but I knew it wasn’t an option
his name was mr. Walker he was about six
two or three african-american male and
the most significant thing about him to
me in that moment where he was the first
african-american teacher I had ever had
in my experience and his presence
commanded respect and and also literally
him standing in front of you reminded
you that what he had to say was probably
really important and so by default you
knew who was in the room with you so my
experience that summer was interesting
because I worked harder than I ever
worked before but I took away so many
things from that experience because he
took time to pull me aside but even in
class he reminded us of our
responsibility to ourself he not only
showed me what it means that people to
have real expectations for children and
how high they set that bar that we will
reach it
but he also taught me to learn to
develop who I was he reminded me of my
obligation to myself as a woman and as
an african-american woman and I spent
six weeks reading books by an otaku
shangai inside of Shakur and Angela
Davis and so from that experience it
made me push and it inspired me to get a
deeper understanding of who I was who my
people were and it actually aligned to
what my parents had taught me my whole
life
but the greatest gift was understanding
that I had the most responsibility to
myself that no teacher and no parent
could provide me that those two teachers
among many others inspired me to do many
things as I grew and one of the things
that I realized was if it was not me
then who if those people didn’t take
time along my path to pour into me and
to utilize those four things teach me
those four things through my life where
would I be and so it inspired me to go
to college and ultimately become a
teacher and so now I had this awesome
responsibility an obligation if you will
to now pour into students because
education in that moment I understood
was actually reciprocal and so now I
felt this obligation to go do what they
did for me
for others and so there were two
students that I will always remember one
who couldn’t identify thirteen letters
of an alphabet who was in seventh grade
and my gosh I didn’t know what to do I
knew I could work hard on his behalf I
knew I would learn to be able to figure
out what to do to support him and so I
spent the next two years because I
looped with him on purpose building and
pouring and pouring and reminding him of
his purpose his power and most
importantly his responsibility to
himself and so we usually don’t know
what happens as a result of that because
those teachers I just spoke about don’t
actually know what they did for me so I
ultimately became an assistant principal
I left I went to a new school and one
day the security called me and said uh
miss green there’s a student here to see
you he said no she said there’s someone
here to see you I said who is it at
your son so that
possible because I knew my son was a
downstairs
and so I went downstairs and this was
the student and he said Miss Greene I’m
graduating and I just need you to come
to my graduation and that was the moment
I think I smiled from my socks because I
realized that that young man had to
travel however far figure out where I
was and come to me so that I could go be
there and celebrate him and so I went
and for anybody was an educator you
understand that that feeling is amazing
because you pour important you drop all
these pebbles and you wonder and for him
to find me I was humbled and so I still
speak to him today and so that was that
moment where I realized that they poured
into me and now I pour into him and so
we’re gonna fast forward to about five
months ago I used to be a principal at
valence gate and one day I was at the
school and I’m walking around and there
was this little guy that when I was we
spent many many many days together
probably more than we should have
because he was always in my office and
in my head I said well like I wonder if
I’m making a difference I wonder if
anything if he understands how much he
matters to me because that’s what
matters to them and so that particular
day I’m walking the halls and all of a
sudden I hear miss green and I turn
around and this little guy be lorenz it
down the hallway and I bend down and he
launches into my arms and I grabbed him
and I hug him so tight and it was that
moment if you will self-actualization
what I’ve come to do I did and it came
back in the form of him reciprocating to
me what genuine love really is how we
talk about but what it really is what it
authentically is you touched me I
touched them and we continue to move
forward making the world a better place
and so I don’t know where his journey
ends as I did with the other student
because he is only 6 years old but I
know that there are moments in his life
when as he gets older that he will
remember that moment probably just
as much as I did and I hope that he
reaches back to tell me my impact on him
you see we just have to be mindful as we
educate people specifically children
that they realize that we’re not always
the teacher because we’re the adult that
there are absolutely moments where
they’re gonna come and they’re gonna
educate us and it feels kind of strange
when you switch anybody who’s a parent
understands how that feels and so I’m
gonna share with you the last example
that will emphasize that moment from the
parent perspective and so often you’ll
tell your children and you remind them
of their responsibilities their
obligation what they have to do you need
to go to college all these things and to
them it you think they hear wah wah wah
but it was my last four months of my
doctorate work and I was working on a
chapter and if anybody has a Doctorate
degree you’ll understand what I’m gonna
say but if you don’t I can liken it to a
root canal because it’s that painful and
I had written probably 12 or 15 times
the same chapter and it felt like 3 or
400 and I got my edits back I’m looking
I’m at the kitchen table I see the edits
I slammed the computer and I call I
affectionately call it an adult tantrum
which Lorna have us have had in our
moments where you’re you’re over it
you’re finished and and you literally
want to be a child but you can’t because
people are watching so you have to just
get up politely go in your room and then
have the tantrum and my son walks into
the room and he says you seemed kind of
upset I know you’re doing a lot and I
know you’re working really hard and and
I get that you’re probably frustrated
and I could see you’re upset here’s my
thought
take your moment do what you got to do
but when you finish just make sure you
get up and go back to the table and
finish your chapter because you taught
us we don’t quit if you need me I’ll be
in my room he turns around he leaves and
there’s a bunch of things I wanted to
respond none of them were appropriate so
that moment I’m still in my tantrum but
I realized the most valuable thing that
that was the shot heard around the world
that he was the teacher and I was the
student and that education is an ebb and
flow sometimes we forget that the
youngest around us tend to actually have
the most wisdom because it’s the most
authentic but in that moment I realized
that my son is only as good as all of my
parts and all of those parts are a
compilation of every person that has
graced my path and bestowed a blessing
we admire the beauty of the butterfly
but so rarely do we understand it
changes it is undergone to achieve such
you [Applause]
rarely do we admit the changes it has
undergone to achieve such beauty maya
angelou to me the phrase speaks to the
sum is only as good as its parts and if
I am the sum then I am only as good as
the parts speaking specifically to the
people who poured into me I like to call
it grant and grace the people who have
impacted in my life did it in four
specific ways belief wisdom love and
light to me they poured into me with
belief in terms of what I would give up
they would take the time to remind me
that I have to continue going that they
believed in me and that my future was
just something I couldn’t see it wisdom
they would always share with me things
that I needed to do to be better to
reach higher to achieve my goals love
that was unconditional even in terms of
making mistakes because when I did all
they would remind me of is that mistakes
are absolutely part of the journey to
success and light when I couldn’t see
where it is I was going they would
remind me of my future
you see it’s essential for us to realize
that education is reciprocal sometimes
you’re the teacher and sometimes you’re
the student and if we’re wise enough to
understand that we teach that to
children when they’re young that there
are absolutely going to be times that
I’m going to pour into you and they’re
absolutely going to be times that you
pour into me I’m gonna share with you
several stories that helps illustrate my
point on my path when I was young I was
in high school and there was one
particular teacher
her name was Miss Kali she was about
five-six blond hair Caucasian woman and
she taught religion class and I hated
that class but more importantly at that
time I kind of hated school because I
had to actually go to class and work
hard but that was fine because I knew
that my mom had very high expectations
and so failure was never an option so I
would go to class quietly marginalize
myself sit off to the side do my work
and not say much you see the school I
went to I was one of three
african-american students and I wasn’t
wealthy or even near there
so as I went through my educational
experience I quickly understood what
that meant for me in that context and so
instead of allowing others to
marginalize me I marginalized myself and
so one day after class and his colleague
pulled me aside and she said you know I
noticed that you’re clearly a good
student because you do all your
assignments but you don’t speak in class
instead typically you’ll write their
assignment and you hand it in I need you
to understand that your writing is
prolific and so as you go through and
continue to do this you need to
understand that that’s a way you can
express yourself so for lack of time and
better words I was like okay great yeah
I get it
uh-huh I understand it as any other
teenager would do I ran out the door and
hope she’d never bother me again but she
did and so shortly thereafter within the
next couple of weeks she took the time
to pull me aside again to say I don’t
really know why you withdraw from class
but what I know for sure is that you’re
going somewhere and so perhaps part of
my job is to help you realize your
potential if you can’t see it and so the
funny thing as an adult now is I realize
that teachers have this amazing gift
where they actually can see how far
we’re gonna go but as a child you don’t
always see it so she said you know what
instead of talking about it I’m not
gonna ask you too many questions what
you need to do is write about it because
your writing is incredible write it even
if only to yourself and when you write
it throw it away give it away speak it
to something but allow that to help you
gain your freedom and
so the short end of that is that it took
me some time to realize that apparently
I did have a gift for writing and so I
continued to write a lot through life
and when I would hit really difficult
bumps in the road that would be my
moment to free myself from myself and so
that teacher inspired me to realize
several things but one most importantly
that I am the one who has the
opportunity to free myself but that she
cared enough that despite why I did or
did not engage in her class she
understood that I absolutely had purpose
and that part of her journey was just to
tap me on the shoulder and remind me of
that my second experience that I want to
share with you was my freshman year in
college I was a here up student and and
so I didn’t really understand why we had
to go to this whole summer thing like
what is this summer Academy I don’t
wanna go there I want to be home hanging
out and so part of the the part of what
we had to do was actually go and spend
six weeks in a summer course and so I
arrived I went to class and when I
walked into a class I looked at the
teacher and I knew many many things but
two things for sure that he was no joke
and then I was probably gonna work
harder than I never worked in my life
and I didn’t really know if I like that
too much but I knew it wasn’t an option
his name was mr. Walker he was about six
two or three african-american male and
the most significant thing about him to
me in that moment where he was the first
african-american teacher I had ever had
in my experience and his presence
commanded respect and and also literally
him standing in front of you reminded
you that what he had to say was probably
really important and so by default you
knew who was in the room with you so my
experience that summer was interesting
because I worked harder than I ever
worked before but I took away so many
things from that experience because he
took time to pull me aside but even in
class he reminded us of our
responsibility to ourself he not only
showed me what it means that people to
have real expectations for children and
how high they set that bar that we will
reach it
but he also taught me to learn to
develop who I was he reminded me of my
obligation to myself as a woman and as
an african-american woman and I spent
six weeks reading books by an otaku
shangai inside of Shakur and Angela
Davis and so from that experience it
made me push and it inspired me to get a
deeper understanding of who I was who my
people were and it actually aligned to
what my parents had taught me my whole
life
but the greatest gift was understanding
that I had the most responsibility to
myself that no teacher and no parent
could provide me that those two teachers
among many others inspired me to do many
things as I grew and one of the things
that I realized was if it was not me
then who if those people didn’t take
time along my path to pour into me and
to utilize those four things teach me
those four things through my life where
would I be and so it inspired me to go
to college and ultimately become a
teacher and so now I had this awesome
responsibility an obligation if you will
to now pour into students because
education in that moment I understood
was actually reciprocal and so now I
felt this obligation to go do what they
did for me
for others and so there were two
students that I will always remember one
who couldn’t identify thirteen letters
of an alphabet who was in seventh grade
and my gosh I didn’t know what to do I
knew I could work hard on his behalf I
knew I would learn to be able to figure
out what to do to support him and so I
spent the next two years because I
looped with him on purpose building and
pouring and pouring and reminding him of
his purpose his power and most
importantly his responsibility to
himself and so we usually don’t know
what happens as a result of that because
those teachers I just spoke about don’t
actually know what they did for me so I
ultimately became an assistant principal
I left I went to a new school and one
day the security called me and said uh
miss green there’s a student here to see
you he said no she said there’s someone
here to see you I said who is it at
your son so that
possible because I knew my son was a
downstairs
and so I went downstairs and this was
the student and he said Miss Greene I’m
graduating and I just need you to come
to my graduation and that was the moment
I think I smiled from my socks because I
realized that that young man had to
travel however far figure out where I
was and come to me so that I could go be
there and celebrate him and so I went
and for anybody was an educator you
understand that that feeling is amazing
because you pour important you drop all
these pebbles and you wonder and for him
to find me I was humbled and so I still
speak to him today and so that was that
moment where I realized that they poured
into me and now I pour into him and so
we’re gonna fast forward to about five
months ago I used to be a principal at
valence gate and one day I was at the
school and I’m walking around and there
was this little guy that when I was we
spent many many many days together
probably more than we should have
because he was always in my office and
in my head I said well like I wonder if
I’m making a difference I wonder if
anything if he understands how much he
matters to me because that’s what
matters to them and so that particular
day I’m walking the halls and all of a
sudden I hear miss green and I turn
around and this little guy be lorenz it
down the hallway and I bend down and he
launches into my arms and I grabbed him
and I hug him so tight and it was that
moment if you will self-actualization
what I’ve come to do I did and it came
back in the form of him reciprocating to
me what genuine love really is how we
talk about but what it really is what it
authentically is you touched me I
touched them and we continue to move
forward making the world a better place
and so I don’t know where his journey
ends as I did with the other student
because he is only 6 years old but I
know that there are moments in his life
when as he gets older that he will
remember that moment probably just
as much as I did and I hope that he
reaches back to tell me my impact on him
you see we just have to be mindful as we
educate people specifically children
that they realize that we’re not always
the teacher because we’re the adult that
there are absolutely moments where
they’re gonna come and they’re gonna
educate us and it feels kind of strange
when you switch anybody who’s a parent
understands how that feels and so I’m
gonna share with you the last example
that will emphasize that moment from the
parent perspective and so often you’ll
tell your children and you remind them
of their responsibilities their
obligation what they have to do you need
to go to college all these things and to
them it you think they hear wah wah wah
but it was my last four months of my
doctorate work and I was working on a
chapter and if anybody has a Doctorate
degree you’ll understand what I’m gonna
say but if you don’t I can liken it to a
root canal because it’s that painful and
I had written probably 12 or 15 times
the same chapter and it felt like 3 or
400 and I got my edits back I’m looking
I’m at the kitchen table I see the edits
I slammed the computer and I call I
affectionately call it an adult tantrum
which Lorna have us have had in our
moments where you’re you’re over it
you’re finished and and you literally
want to be a child but you can’t because
people are watching so you have to just
get up politely go in your room and then
have the tantrum and my son walks into
the room and he says you seemed kind of
upset I know you’re doing a lot and I
know you’re working really hard and and
I get that you’re probably frustrated
and I could see you’re upset here’s my
thought
take your moment do what you got to do
but when you finish just make sure you
get up and go back to the table and
finish your chapter because you taught
us we don’t quit if you need me I’ll be
in my room he turns around he leaves and
there’s a bunch of things I wanted to
respond none of them were appropriate so
that moment I’m still in my tantrum but
I realized the most valuable thing that
that was the shot heard around the world
that he was the teacher and I was the
student and that education is an ebb and
flow sometimes we forget that the
youngest around us tend to actually have
the most wisdom because it’s the most
authentic but in that moment I realized
that my son is only as good as all of my
parts and all of those parts are a
compilation of every person that has
graced my path and bestowed a blessing
we admire the beauty of the butterfly
but so rarely do we understand it
changes it is undergone to achieve such
you [Applause]
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