Role Models?

"Optimism is a strategy for making a better future. Because unless you believe that the future can be better, you are unlikely to step up and take responsibility for making it so. If you assume there is no hope, you guarantee there will be no hope." ~Norm Chomsky

My work has taken me into the secondary schools this week. It's both the same as I remember it to be from when I was a student and yet very different in how the students interact... behave... just generally how they are - more aware of themselves yet less aware of their place in the world. As I sat in a classroom  yesterday listening to them speak amongst themselves and their teachers I wondered how they were going to be... what kind of persons they would grow up into... what kind of adults they would make. I wondered and still wonder those things about myself (even though I'm now an adult).

I know that I am who I am now because of my choices but also because of the examples I've had to follow, those persons around me and that I've been aware of. I wonder if in present times there are good examples to follow.

Allyson Hennessy passed away this Saturday. I'd consider her to be a role model. I remember her from television when I was very young... I think she contributed a lot to our country. She will be remembered as the article says,

"for her abiding love of her country, her abundant native spirit, affection for local culture and her overall zest for life. She showcased those attributes for a generation on CNMG’s prior State-owned media enterprise and at a time when a young Trinidad and Tobago nation was finding ways to express its identity, values and aspirations."

Dr. Mary King's Senatorial and Ministerial appointments have been revoked after it was found that she had familial ties to a software company which won a $100,000 contract to develop her Ministry's website. I guess more facts on that will surface - no one really knows what goes on in these situations - am hoping for transparency. In the meantime, with the information available, I'm very disappointed that this has happened.

It makes me wonder who will be the models for those coming up. The students I saw yesterday were unaware of Allyson Hennessy (she was apparently before their time... that makes me feel somewhat old). In this age where there is so much information on persons readily available - what is it that young people are looking at? Who do they look up too? Who do they model themselves after?

I hope that in being who I am and following the path which I want to follow I'm a 'good example'. I hope that persons think about what people looking at them see. Awareness of self is important.

peace,

Ren