The Secret to Success (12 page)

“Today you are You, that is truer than true. There is no one alive who is Youer than You.” -
Dr. Seuss

Dorothy was on to something
- “There is no place like home.”

As much as I loved my first year experience at Oakwood, I always felt like a fish out of water. The fact that I was not familiar with a lot of the cultural habits that existed bothered me. During chapel service they sang songs like
“Bye and Bye,” “Glory Glory,” “The Blood that Jesus Shed,” “Precious Memories How They Linger”
and so forth. For the first few months I lip-singed and pretended I knew the songs. Then there were those spiritual sayings they would repeat throughout chapel. It was like they had their own language. The biggest challenge was the cliques. It seemed like ninety percent of the students went to high school together or they had relatives attending the school. There were only a handful of freshmen from Detroit, and I only knew one or two of them on a first name basis because they went to school with De.

It reminded me of my basketball experience. I never truly embraced the game because I did not excel at it. I excelled in football. As a result, I loved the game of football. When it came to a football game, people went out of their way to make sure I played on their team, but when it was time for basketball they would go to the park and not even tell me they were going. College, for me, was a lot like my basketball experience. In order to get the full benefit of college, my academic game had to be tight or I had to at least be able to sing or play an instrument. Unfortunately, I did not posses any of those skills. I believe that is why I gravitated toward the work environment. I not only survived in that environment, I thrived. I had the work ethic that would allow me to become one of the best.

But after working in the real world for a few months, I knew busing tables was not for me. Bottom line, some birds are not meant to be caged. However, for the time being De and I needed the money so I was in no position to quit. From that day forward I purposed in my heart that I would do what I loved doing and not what I was forced to do to make a living.

We make a living by what we get, we make a life by what we give -
Sir Winston Churchill

My community service efforts had grown dramatically, from visiting elementary and middle school students, and the elderly, to the developing and implementing a G.E.D. program. I started the G.E.D. program because I felt I had to do more. The G.E.D. was my ticket out of Detroit and my passport to the world, literally, and I felt as if I had a debt to pay to those who helped me. The program specifically targeted mothers who were unable to finish high school due to unplanned pregnancy, and youth offenders, i.e., drug dealers, and gang members.

“I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.” -
Maya Angelou

When I started the G.E.D. class I did not have a dime to my name or any financial backing but it all worked out because there were only a few mandatory items I needed to get started. I had to have a G.E.D. book, some pencils and pens, some writing paper, scrap paper and a classroom with a few desks. The book, paper, pencils and pens would be the easy part, finding office space would be somewhat challenging. During my devotional time, I prayed to the Lord and asked for wisdom regarding the class space. A few days later my answer came to me as I was driving down University Ave. All of a sudden it dawned on me that there was a neighborhood community center in the complex. I knew there had to be at least a few classrooms that were not being used. When I made it home I called Black to see if he would roll out with me to the center just in case there were a few classrooms available and to find out what the requirements were to lease the space. As fate would have it there was plenty of available space and based on the type of program I was providing the neighborhood, the director was more than happy to accommodate me. Now that the facility was secure, it was time to check off the other items one by one. I bought my first G.E.D. textbook from Books a Million. I then asked one of my professors for writing paper and the center provided scrap paper and to my surprise they took care of all my printing needs. I had some extra pencils and pens lying around at the house, so I brought those from home. Classes were everyday from 12-4. I wanted to run the classes earlier but I knew it might affect attendance so I encouraged those that needed extra help to meet me earlier or stay after class. I had a gut feeling that this was not going to be your typical group. It was my guess that some of the students would have some mental and emotional challenges they would need to overcome before they ever dealt with their academics struggles. With that in mind, I divided my lesson plan in three segments. Before we did anything we discussed their goals for themselves and my personal goals for the class. The next 10 -15 minutes I read a powerful motivation speech and ended it with an electrical charge that summarized the points of the devotion. I figured I had a better chance of gaining their interest and getting them engaged in the learning experience if I made them feel good about themselves and made them believe that somehow their dreams could come true through hard work. Instead of designing my program with a traditional approach, I added some creative methods. Mainly, I used a team approach. Based on the strength of the students, I assigned each of them a day to teach and I divided my lesson plan with them according to their assigned day. The idea was to keep them as active as possible for the entire class period. I knew it was difficult for a number of them to concentrate on the lesson at hand. For some it was family challenges that kept them from giving me their undivided attention, for others it was the fear that their infants were not in the safest daycare facility. Mothers would repeatedly dismiss themselves from the classroom to call the daycare facility to make sure their child was safe. Had it not been a requirement to pursue their G.E.D. in order to remain on government assistance, there is a chance that many of the mothers would not have enrolled in the program. Then there were my most challenging students. They were either gang bangers or drug dealers who would have also preferred to be elsewhere but were required by the courts to get in a G.E.D. program or return to prison. Regardless of the challenge that prevented them from taking school serious, I felt compelled to find out what learning environment and teaching style most complemented their learning style.

“Before you speak, it is necessary for you to listen, for God speaks in the silence of the heart.” -
Mother Teresa

I learned early in my teaching career that you have to possess a unique set of skills if your plans were to teach students from low-income schools. However, I had no idea I was going to be a teacher, counselor, advisor, mentor, bus driver, motivator and to some, a father figure. Often times I had to veer from my lesson plan to address the real life issues my students faced. The effort I put forth daily to see to it that my students received a first-class learning experience was exhausting. By the time I straightened up all the chairs, picked up the last piece of paper off the floor, wiped the red ink off the eraser board, and counseled two or three of my students, I was ready to drop. I quickly discovered that I had to find a way to replenish myself. There was no way I could put forth that type of energy day in and day out without refueling. So like a star athlete, I added a pre-game warm up routine to my repertoire.

It started with my devotion time in the morning. First, I would pray and ask God for wisdom. As far as I was concerned, God created them so He had a much better sense of what they needed. Two, I spent about 30 minutes envisioning what the class should look like. I actually taught the entire class in my thoughts so when the actual class took place, it wouldn't be my first time teaching it. Then I put together a strong playlist. I used my music to help shape my thoughts on the ride over. I believed that the physical environment played just as much a role in the learning process as the lesson and the teacher. I did not have a lot to work with but I plastered images of great African Americans throughout history in an attempt to inspire my students to reach greatness. My final pre-game routine was to look over the lesson to make sure no changes were needed then I would walk over to the classroom door so I could greet each student with a smile, a hug and a specific word of encouragement to help set the tone of the class.

As time went on, I began to tap into my network and started building a library of great motivational books and videos from people like Les Brown, Tony Robbins and Zig Ziglar. Whenever I finished with the book or tape I put it in the community center's library so my students could have access to them. I was so concerned with staying pumped up and motivated that I put together an
“In Case of a Rainy Day box.”
Black taught me the importance of forecasting challenges so you can cut them off at the root. The box wasn't elaborate or expensive to make. It had little simple stuff in it like my favorite underdog movies, songs, books, poems, and goals for the year. Whenever I felt the slightest bit of discouragement and felt like giving up I would get my
“In Case of a Rainy Day”
box and encourage myself. My philosophy was that your spirit affects your disposition. If my spirits were negative, how would that affect others? So I tried to stay enthusiastic about life and I fought to maintain an upbeat disposition. I wasn't getting paid to teach my students. My only reward was their success so I wasn't about to waste their time or mine.

“Never underestimate the importance of the beginning. The beginning has the seeds of everything else to come. Started a G.E.D. program in the hood and the rest was history.”

We must accept finite disappointment, but we must never lose infinite hope.

Almost an entire year had passed since I dropped everything to pursue my dream and no results. Not one student had registered for the G.E.D. test. An entire year of preparation and I was unable to convince one student that they needed to take the test. I was starting to believe I had made a big mistake. Maybe the doubters were right. Maybe I jumped the gun; I should have stayed in school; I kept thinking, maybe I should just throw in the towel and give up the hoop dream. Go get a “real job.”

“With every deed you are sowing a seed, though the harvest you may not see.” -
Ella Wheeler Wilcox

I wasn't sure which was worse, coming to grips with the fact that the program was a complete failure or dealing with the fact that I was succumbing to self-defeating thoughts… again. I took pride in the fact that I was this jubilant, upbeat person, that I was somehow able to rise above negative circumstances and defy all odds. But this one was hard to bounce back from, it knocked the wind out of me. I was no longer living for myself; I was married, so my decision had a direct impact on De. In fact, 6 months after I left my job to pursue my dreams and all savings evaporated, she decided to get a job to help make ends meet. I felt so bad because she was getting up at 5:30 a.m. to make her 6:30 a.m. clinical, stayed in class until about 3:30 and went to work until about 9:30 – 10:00 p.m. I decided the best thing to do for the sake of my marriage was to man up and call the G.E.D. program quits. Next week would be my last week. As that week was coming to an end I pulled all the students together and I made my announcement. “Guys, this has been one of the most enriching experiences of my life, in almost a year our relationship has grown, you each have grown academically and personally. I believe that for each of you the best is yet to come. With that being said, I hate to inform you that next week is my final week. None of you are the reason for my decision. In short, I am leaving for financial reasons. Over the past year I have poured my personal finances into this program and I can no longer afford to live and invest in the program.” As soon as I finished one of the most touching speeches of my career, Zanzabar, one of the top drug dealers in the city blurted out, “Did I just hear you say you were quitting? Tell me you're kidding, right? Is this a joke?” he asked. I know “Mr. Don't ever give into defeat” ain't standing here telling us he's ‘bout to give up on his dreams over money. I thought you were different Mr. Thomas but you just like the rest of them fake teachers. You don't give a damn about us.” I am not sure if I was more stunned or embarrassed. What do you say after one of your students hangs you out to dry like that in front of the entire class? My ego had been slightly damaged, but Zanzabar was right. If there was one thing I tried to instill in them, it was that defeat was not an option, come hell or high water, never be denied and never quit short of the prize. Here I was being a hypocrite. I could not come back from that blow, so I just said, “Have a great weekend and I will see you guys Monday!” I spent that entire weekend to myself. I called on the Lord every waking hour. Father, I'm in a major jam again and I don't know what to do. You said you would never leave me nor forsake me. That I have not because I ask not. Well, I am asking Father. I can't afford to give up on my students but I can't afford to keep doing it for free. Please Lord, show up and show out! Give me some sort of sign that I am doing the right thing. Less than a week later, on one of my last days, two older gentlemen walked through the doors of the community center and into the room where I held my G.E.D. classes. They just stood there and observed me in action. After I dismissed the class the two gentlemen approached me and informed that they represent the Department of Education for the State of Alabama. They said that for the past few months they had been hearing good things about the program and that they wanted to see it for themselves. They were so impressed with what they saw they offered their support. Needless to say, I accepted their help and continued teaching my class. From that day forward they purchased all the computers, software, textbooks, pencils, and took care of all my printing needs. That one act rekindled my belief in my dreams and if that wasn't enough of a sign from God, a few weeks later, God showed up again. One evening De and I were scraping our pennies together for groceries and I felt impressed to pray over the mailbox. So we stopped, got on our knees, looked out the window and thanked God for whatever he was getting ready to do. Even though we were down to our last few pennies I truly felt as if God was about to do something special for us. After we prayed over the mailbox, the mail lady came 2 hours later. I will never forget going to the mailbox somewhat afraid. I kept thinking to myself, what if it wasn't God? How would this affect De's faith in me? As I got closer to the mailbox the spirit of anxiety overwhelmed me. Filled with more faith than fear, I opened the mailbox and grabbed the handful of mail. The first envelope was junk, the second was junk, the third was a bill but there was one more piece of mail that I didn't recognize, so I ripped the edges off the side and when I opened it, it was a check for $285.00. I literally dropped the check and fell to the ground. “Thank you Father, thank you… not only for the check, but for hearing and answering our prayers.” To think I had almost given up. If it had not been for Zanzabar's words, I would have removed myself from Miracle Territory and all the blessings that were about to follow.