Aswe grow into more sophisticated skin we shall realize the wisdom in rethinking everything.
R e t h i n k A d v e r s i t y
The year 2009 would be yet another year defined by adversity. So many people lost so much and I lost faith in what I could be when my school closed its doors unexpectedly, and then filed for bankruptcy. I didn’t realize that it would be so devastating to me, but it was also a great disappointment to many. A fellow student shared that disappointment with me when he said that CSB (Connecticut School of Broadcasting) meant that finally there would be a place and a purpose for him in the world. He was afraid of who he was becoming as he lost himself in a world where he felt invisible, and a job that stifled his creativity and his spirit. His story resonated with me because it was our story, and this was our fight. To matter in a world as African American young men, yet not to be defined by that or the struggles through which we have been.
For months I couldn’t look at the cloud that surrounded me, or the disappointment from which I couldn’t shake. I didn’t want to think about the reality, sense of which I couldn’t make. When I finally did look at the cloud of adversity for which I was now defining, what I saw was the silver lining, along with Gods great timing. I saw what I would have never seen, which was that I had dreamt for myself the wrong dream. It was a dream built on the fear of being a failure for not fitting into any of the conventional career paths by which many of my family members measure one’s success. I saw my childhood need to be accepted trying once again to manifest, and although it didn’t hurt any less I saw that God was showing me that I didn’t need CSB to be a success.
lost so much and I lost faith in what I could be when my school closed its doors unexpectedly, and then filed for bankruptcy. I didn’t realize that it would be so devastating to me, but it was also a great disappointment to many. A fellow student shared that disappointment with me when he said that CSB (Connecticut School of Broadcasting) meant that finally there would be a place and a purpose for him in the world. He was afraid of who he was becoming as he lost himself in a world where he felt invisible, and a job that stifled his creativity and his spirit. His story resonated with me because it was our story, and this was our fight. To matter in a world as African American young men, yet not to be defined by that or the struggles through which we have been.
