Inspiration

I appreciate the “little things” in life that can mean so much and inspire me to be a better person. Sometimes when I least expect it, I encounter inspiration from a class and a teacher that contributes to who I am and who I want to be.

In my humanities class, we are taught the ultimate advantage of being quickly open-minded and slowly presupposing. Currently, the class is working on an assignment in which the student has to present a peer presentation on a subject of art.

A classmate named Jonathan gave his presentation on the art of music and lyricism focusing on a gentleman named Nasir Jones, aka Nas, a renowned Hip-Hop artist. He explained and also admired the depths of the artist’s words, and showed that the words aren’t just words, but lyrics and poetry of a person who has seen the corruption of life.

My instructor, Grace Taylor, then took the subject that Jonathan spoke about and challenged the classroom to watch a video and try to imagine the lifestyle during that time. We watched a recorded speech that Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. recited, “I Have a Dream,” with excerpts of the brutality that existed then. After hearing such a powerful speech and seeing such madness that went on, Taylor emphasized the sacrifices heroes made for something they believed in. She spoke about the punishment people endured, such as being water hosed, yet Dr. King encouraged a non-violent defense. Taylor took a moment to be personal and direct, saying, “Your generation is fortunate, but unfortunate.”

I realized that this generation has so much, but lacks core fundamentals in life. Who can we call our hero? Are our heroes pop idols, basketball stars, R&B divas or rap artists? Who do we look up to and why?

The question of whether or not popular culture is important is not the subject. What I want to know is this, are these people who feed off the exposure of media the basis of which we live our lives? I took an inventory of those I look up to and compared them to people like Dr. King and Robert Kennedy. My results were incomparable!

After my teacher said what was in her heart to say, she then asked us to, “Get up and quietly leave the classroom. Meditate on what you’ve seen and the things I’ve said,” and I did. I thought about it and it is amazing how the unintentional, inspiring and hopeful words of a teacher can carry a student throughout the week.

Who inspires you and who do you look up to? Who do you inspire and who looks up to you? This is the question.

— Victoria Childress is a Mass Communication major and a contributing writer for the News-Register.