(#5327) My public school education was brilliant!

      I am so proud to be from a public school education system. Not only were my teachers adept at teaching me from early age 5 to age 17 but they were kind decent human beings who gave us a panoramic view of the world, not a fettered one. Objectivity is the keyword here. Giving us the information for us to critique and reason with is how teaching is supposed to be done. Not a list of what to think but an opportunity to learn to think critically for ourselves. Another aspect of my schooling was diversity. During the late sixties and early seventies in the last century busing of racially different children to schools to allow for diversity was needed.
     This busing took me from my predominantly white neighborhood to a high school that was an equal mix of Asian, Hispanic, African American, and Caucasian students. Most of us were not aware of the intimate cultural differences that each were part of until we got to know one another. What we found in the mixing of our races for purposes of schooling is that we are/were basically all the same. We had dreams to live a life of happiness and success. When our differences were brought together we realized a strength in the overall sameness at our cores that lifted our experiences and knowledge to a higher level of understanding.
     Our empathy for one another caused a reversal from our previous held biases and prejudices. We learned that no one is better than another solely based upon race. We learned that merit and talent was the separator not race or gender. Some of the best memories of my life still revolve around the years I spent being in a high school that gave me the opportunity to mix with those I had previously misunderstood. I grew tremendously as a person from my experiences and to this day cherish the gift of knowing that all of us human beings of differing colors and genders for that matter are precious and valuable with no exception. What we do with our ethics and talents is what defines who we are. Thank you public schooling for giving me the intelligence to be an insightful man who appreciates this existence and all within it.