Excuse me, you're a what?
I am a teacher. I teach grades 7 through 12. It's not a job, it's a career. A
job is what you do to earn money. A career is what you are because that is your
purpose. I am a teacher for some very specific reasons.
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I am convinced this world is headed in
a bad direction. if we don't change the way we live, our very existence may
be at risk.
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I think one of the reasons things are
in the state they're in is because of apathy and ignorance. Either folks
don't know what's going on, or they don't care.
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I believe the next generation is the
one in which our hope lies. We have to tell them the truth. We have to get
them to think, to really think, instead of merely existing and "going
with the flow." We need a generation of thinkers, not mindless
followers. It doesn't matter what they believe, as long as they've thought
it out seriously and contemplatively, and have convictions based on reason
and thoughtful consideration instead of mindless capitulation to the
influence of someone else like a society, parent, pastor, friend, or
teacher. The next generation needs to think for themselves and stand behind
what they believe, once they figure out what that is.
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I believe the next generation HAS TO
VOTE or nothing will get better. If every poor person voted, there would be
no mega-wealthy people or injustice left. The reason 9% of the people have
91% of the wealth and power is because most poor people don't vote. Simple
math.
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I believe the next generation is our
nation's most precious natural resource.
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I believe an educated and enlightened
generation can do away with all the nonsense laws, rules, and regulations
that exist in a society gone mad. I believe an enlightened generation can
expose corruption and clean it up. I believe an enlightened society will be
what becomes of an enlightened generation that grows up rejecting the
nonsense that has been handed down to them and clings to the values they
select as important and meaningful and worth preserving.
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I believe that the ills of society
such as intolerance, racism, hate crimes, and a "Big Brother"
mentality can be resolved by an enlightened generation.
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I believe an enlightened generation
will stop using the planet as a toilet before it becomes uninhabitable.
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I believe that this can all be
accomplished if teachers teach kids to THINK FOR THEMSELVES.
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And I believe that I can help bring
these changes about by being the best darn teacher I can possibly be.
Some folks say
I have a conflict of interest: That I cannot be a biker and a teacher at the
same time. I say who better to teach kids to choose their own path and walk it
proudly than someone who has been persecuted simply for the company he
keeps?
On the one
hand I've been shunned by colleagues and peers
because I do not fit into their mold. I've been viewed with suspicion because I
am a biker.
On the other hand I've
been denied admittance to motorcycle club membership because of my squeaky clean
image. I've been mistrusted because I'm not a hard-core "bad dude". I've been viewed
with suspicion because I am a teacher.
But I AM a biker and a
loyal one at that, and I AM a teacher, and a devoted one at that.
So I have a squeaky
clean record. So I have some of the best grades in college, and some of the most
distinguished local academic references. I am a darn good teacher, and I'm
getting better all the time. So if some bikers are uncomfortable with my
straight image, that's unfortunate, because I am a stand-up good bro. And
if teachers have an issue with my motorcycling lifestyle, that's unfortunate, because I am a well-oiled teaching machine. In either case the loss is
theirs.
Teacher? Biker? Labels.
Just call me an individual who knows what he is and knows what he has to do to
be true to himself, and leave it at that.
Michael G. (Dyna-Mike) Watson
E-Mail: Dyna-mike@live.com
Contact & Support: Donations
