Category Archives: Passion [for positive people] Blogs

Passion [for positive people] Blogs — Frances, the Inspiration of a Lifetime

Erie, PA — She has been a part of the family for so long now, I don’t remember the first time I met Frances, now in her sixties. My aunt Hope was a social worker for many years before she retired, and had worked with Frances in the past, and became friends with her later. Hope introduced Frances to my family and me, and we instantly fell in love with her, welcoming her into our family.

Frances has had an extremely difficult life. She is moderately developmentally disabled and comes from a family of mentally challenged parents and siblings. Because of her circumstances, Frances and her siblings were removed from her parents, and placed in either mental institutions or orphanages, separated from each other. Although Frances is not severely disabled, she was placed misclassified as severely mentally challenged and therefore placed in an orphanage and then a mental institution where life was very tough and often cruel. Frances went through a rough patch of misbehavior during her teen years, but became remarkably mature and independent when she began to live independently. This was when my aunt Hope met her and helped her to learn some basic life tips like manners, personal finance, and how to take care of her house and herself.

Frances just recently learned to read and write. She tried to take some reading classes a few years ago, but her fellow students were so cruel to her that she decided it best for herself to drop out of those classes and hire a tutor. She is now so proud of her reading and writing abilities, and often sends me notes and post cards to say hello, but also to show off new words she has learned. Education is the  one thing Frances wishes she had been allowed to have. She feels that had she been given that opportunity, she would have excelled.

Frances has several outstanding qualities that make her someone whom I not only love and adore, but admire and respect. Frances is extremely honest. She speaks her mind and states directly what she wants. This quality has propelled Frances forward in life because people learn to take her seriously.

Frances has a marvelous sense of humor and a contagious laugh. She loves to tell stories of the past, and makes everyone around her laugh. She particularly loves to tell funny and embarrassing stories about my naughty little siblings, stories that make my mother cringe but everyone else grin.

Frances is extremely responsible and caring. She takes it upon herself to take care of all those around her. Every time she calls me she starts and ends with her favorite saying, “Now, I don’t want to get you in no trouble..” because she worries that by calling me she is taking me away from my studies or sleep. She diligently watches my little siblings and me when she is with us, and pushes us to work hard and do our best. She has an elderly neighbor, Dolores, who lives next door in her apartment building. Dolores is incredibly sweet and kind, but has Alzheimer disease, so Frances spends much of her time with Dolores, taking care of her, helping her prepare meals, take her medicine, and pass the long, lonely days with loving company. Frances loves Dolores, and was heartbroken to learn recently that Dolores’ family will be relocating her to an assisted living home in the coming weeks. Frances had a twin brother, Frankie, who was severely developmentally disabled, and died last year from pneumonia. She doted upon him, visiting him as often as possible in his group home. Nothing made him smile more than a visit from Frances. She was heartbroken to lose him like she lost the rest of her family, but Frances is unbelievably strong and resilient and didn’t miss a beat of her charm. Frances has had to learn to let go of many loved ones and although she bravely moves on, it has not been easy for her.

Because of Frances’ endearing qualities, she has made many close friends in life. She has become a part of my family, and I cherish countless fond memories with her. She has two close friends in Georgia whom she visits every summer. She became close with her reading tutor, a medical student who is now a doctor, and visits him and his wife occasionally. She is very close with Dolores. She babysits long hours for a family of four children who look up to her because of the firm but loving care she bestows upon them. She is popular in her apartment building and community, and helps everyone out. Although Frances has had to let several loved ones go, I know that she will always be meeting and entering the hearts of new people whose lives will be irrevocably enhanced by her presence. Frances is the inspiration of a life time.

Frances and Frankie

Pictured is Frances talking with her deceased twin brother, Frankie a few years ago at my aunt Hope’s home in Erie, Pennsylvania.

A few years ago, my uncle Joe Wilson and his husband Dean Hamer, documentary film makers, made a short video about Frances’ life story upon request by Frances. Here is the link to this eight minute video: http://www.snagfilms.com/films/title/frances_and_frankie. Frances insisted upon this documentation of her life because she felt that it was the right thing to do to share her story and hardships in order to raise awareness of the issues she faced in hopes of consequentially improving the circumstances of others.

 

Passion [for positive people] Blogs — An Ode to a Brave Young Jordanian

State College, PA — Falafel had been on my mind all day. Tired of dining hall food, I willingly submitted to my craving and made my way to my favorite falafel restaurant. When it was my turn, I began to issue my order to one of the young men behind the counter. I learned immediately that he doesn’t speak English very well, and when he held up his bandaged hand, I realized that he was trying to tell me that he can’t serve me because of his injury. In response, I laughed and held up my own bandaged hand.

After I received my food and was on my way out, I saw the same young man eating his own lunch in the restaurant. I said goodbye to him as I passed, but he stood up to talk to me. He said in his broken English that he would like to be friends, but the language is difficult for him. To his utter astonishment, I responded to him in Arabic, “No problem, I know some Arabic!” He stammered, searching for something to say, starting to say something in English but quickly breaking into fluid, fast-paced Arabic.

We spoke for a little while longer about ourselves, school, and what we are studying at Penn State. His name is Mohammed and is from Jordan. He is a Penn State student of graphic design who wants to get better at English. I am a student of political science who wants to get better at Arabic. All of a sudden, he announced a brilliant idea. He suggested that we meet for an hour or so once or twice a month to practice Arabic and English with each other by just conversing, for half the time in English and half the time in Arabic. I readily accepted knowing from past experience how profoundly an experience like this would deepen our understanding and strengthen our grasp on the target language. It gets better yet. When we pulled out our phones to exchange numbers, we laughed incredulously to see that we had the same exact phone and the same exact phone case, both of which are outdated!

It was a pleasantly serendipitous exchange, but I would like to commend Mohammed’s courage. In today’s world of technology-induced isolation and egotism, few people reach out to one another. We try to connect more to wifi than to each other, but Mohammed bravely surpassed this trend and did so in a language new and unfamiliar to him. He remained pleasant, upbeat, and respectful throughout the duration of our interaction, and I look forward to helping and being helped by him in the future. He inspired me to try to have more interactions with strangers, even if just by making eye contact or smiling, acknowledging the strong bond we share just by being humans.

Passion [for positive people] Blog — Tesla Takes Selfless Initiative, Shares Patents

San Carlos, CA — Perhaps when you hit a wall, when you get writer’s block, when you are stumped and devoid of new ideas, you have been told to take some deep breaths, take a long walk, meditate, or do something else to help you relax. While these are actually very helpful tips, none of them include talking to someone else. Usually when we have an idea, we keep it to ourselves until we are sure our idea is ready to be presented or profited from. It seems ingrained in us to guard our ideas carefully for fear that they will be stolen. And while it is possible that someone could take our ideas if we were to share them, here is why it is worth taking that risk, as demonstrated by Tesla, the American electric car corporation based in San Carlos, CA, when the co-founder and CEO, Elon Musk, announced in a Tesla blog post on June 12, 2014 that Tesla “will not initiate patent lawsuits against anyone who, in good faith, wants to use our technology.” In other words, Tesla is open to sharing its patents with other innovative individuals and companies.

Let’s start by debunking the myth of originality in terms of generating ideas. The best and most ground-breaking ideas are rarely generated by one individual. The eighteenth century politician, thinker, inventor, and scientist, Benjamin Franklin, is accredited with countless ideas, but it is common knowledge that he actually shared his ideas with others and built many of his ideas off of the ideas of others. Salons, invented first in 16th century Italy, were social gatherings meant to inspire creativity and invention through the power of conversation and sharing ideas aloud. This concept thrived for hundreds of years, sparking theories, ideas, and inventions that changed the world.

Tesla took a risk, a leap of faith full of risk. It risked losing shareholders and investors, reputation, and profit. However, it decided to take the risk head on and decided to allow for the possibility of even greater innovations, inventions, and improvements upon the already existing electric car patents with the goal of a greener world in mind. Already, Toyota and Daimler have used some Tesla ideas. Ideas require other ideas in order to grow, evolve, and adapt. If other companies and individuals build off of Tesla’s idea to share ideas, the world could be thinking and inventing as quickly as Benjamin Franklin and the guests of salons.

elon musk
www.gq-magazine.co.uk

Elon Musk, co-founder and CEO of Tesla.

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www.digitaltrends.com

The Tesla Model S.

Sources:Forbes (http://www.forbes.com/sites/greatspeculations/2014/06/16/what-tesla-stands-to-gain-from-sharing-its-patents/), Tesla (http://www.teslamotors.com/blog/all-our-patent-are-belong-you), Reuters (http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/06/12/us-tesla-patents-idUSKBN0EN23J20140612), NPR (http://www.npr.org/2012/03/19/148777350/how-creativity-works-its-all-in-your-imagination)

Passion [for positive people] Blogs — Giving Hope to Guatemala by Empowering Its Children

Jocotenango, Guatemala (CNN) — After decades of civil war, Guatemala continues to suffer greatly from poverty and violence. Guatemala’s homicide rate is the fifth highest in the world. Guatemalans made up 37% of the 57,000 unaccompanied children from Central America who attempted to flee to the United States and were caught since October 2014 — this number is higher than that of any other country, stated the Department of Health and Human Services. Many Guatemalan parents have no money and no prospects, leaving their children without hope or motivation. Crime, drugs, and gangs often become the only thing to turn to.

Romero Fuentes, now 30, became a teacher in his home town of Jocotenango at age 23. He then witnessed first-hand the hopelessness and disparagingly dim prospects of the children he taught. So he decided to go a step further.

With his parents’ permission, Fuentes converted the entire front part of his family home into a community center for children in the area. It began with him tutoring and mentoring several children after school. When word of the center spread, many more children from the community soon became a part of the program. Fuentes named his nonprofit Los Patojos, or, “the Little Ones.”

His center now offers free tutoring, classes, and one nutritional meal per day, a meal that is often the only one the children will see each day. Low-cost medical care is also available to the children and to more than 1,500 members of the community each year.

Classes take place in the main center which is covered in brightly painted murals and quotations. Some of the classes include dancing, juggling, theater, music, photography, and performances are often put on by children for other children. These classes are meant to inspire creativity, encourage passions to flourish, and give hope for a brighter future. There are also leadership seminars to instill values of “moral courage, social justice, and self-expression.” “We are raising them to be the future leaders of Guatemala,” Fuentes said.

The organization is currently in the process of building its own school, where approximately 250 students ranging from preschool to sixth grade could come to learn and grow, have their lives turned around, and be given the hope and knowledge necessary to build a brighter future for the for the current and future generations.

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CNN

Romero Fuentes stands proudly in front of the students of his nonprofit-turned-school, Los Patojos.

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CNN

Romero Fuentes spends some quality time with a few of his students who now not only have an education, a dependable daily meal, and a place to get away from the violence of the streets, but also the empowerment and hope to create a brighter future for themselves and generations to come.

Source: CNN (http://www.cnn.com/2014/07/31/world/cnnheroes-romero/index.html)

Passion [for positive people] Blog — Transforming Masai Warriors into Lion Guardians

CNN — Leela Hazzah spent summer nights lying on the roof of her family home in Egypt, listening. Her family told her stories of their childhoods when they would lie on the same rooftop and hear lions roaring. So she listened, but never heard the roars. Her family sadly told her that lions had long since become extinct in Egypt. From that moment on, Hazzah, now 35, was inspired to devote her life to the conservation of lions in Africa.

Hazzah stated that 60 years ago, there were more than 500,000 lions in Africa. Now, there are only 30,000 lions in all of Africa. So Hazzah moved to Kenya to live among the Maasai in order to understand why they were killing so many lions. Maasai warriors receive much prestige based on how many lions they kill, and the first lion killed serves as a sort of initiation rite. Also, Maasai populations rely heavily upon their livestock, and when livestock are hunted or disappear, Maasai often retaliate and kill lions.

After living with the Maasai for a while, they began to open up and tell her stories, broadening her understanding of their love-hate relationship with the lions. They dislike the lions because of the threat they pose to their livestock, but admire them because of their undeniable beauty. So Hazzah, backed by a doctorate in environmental studies, began her nonprofit, Lion Guardians, which employs 65 Maasai Guardians throughout East Africa for about $100 per month to monitor and protect lions, thus lowering the number of lions killed. They often put their own lives at risk by intervening other would-be lion attackers in order to conserve the lion population.

Hazzah’s organization trains the Maasai Guardians how to use the technology used to track and monitor the lions, as well as how to read and write since most of the Guardians come to Hazzah illiterate. If a Guardian hears about an impending lion hunt, he will intervene and help the people understand the importance of conserving the lions, one of the reasons being the tourism and consequent jobs that lions bring to the Maasai.

Becoming a Lion Guardian brings even more prestige to Maasai than killing lions. They learn to read and write, how to use the necessary technology, and about the lions they are devoted to protecting. The program has proved to by 99% effective in preventing the killing of lions, particularly in the Amboseli region of Kenya. Hazzah said, “I know we’re making a difference. When I first moved here, I never heard lions roaring. Now, I hear lions roaring all the time.”

To learn more, see the Lion Guardians website at www.lionguardians.org.

Source: CNN (http://www.cnn.com/2014/07/24/world/cnnheroes-hazzah/index.html)

leela hazzah
CNN

Here, Leela Hazzah stands with one of the 65 Maasai Lion Guardians in East Africa.

lion guardians
CNN

Leela Hazzah and some Lion Guardians track the lions they are protecting.

Passion [for positive people] Blog — Kenyan Woman Makes Good On Promise and Returns to Village to Change Lives and Challenge Traditions

November 2013 — When Kakenya Ntaiya, now 35, was 5, she was engaged. When she was 14, she was subjected to the ceremonial tradition of her Masai village in Kenya of female genital mutilation. However, it came with a cost, and not just for Ntaiya; she made a deal with her father that she would undergo the mutilation if he would allow her to finish high school, on threat of running away. She knew that after these ceremonies, many girls are promptly married off, their dreams and aspirations snuffed out. She had a different plan for herself. Her father agreed to the bargain, and Ntaiya went on to excel in her studies, earning a scholarship to study at at university in the United States. Her village held a fundraiser to raise the funds for her airfare, and in exchange for the kindness, Ntaiya promised to return to help her village someday.

Approximately 140 girls and women around the world have been affected by child marriage and genital mutilation. While both atrocities are now illegal in Kenya, reports show that they still occur, especially in rural villages like the one Ntaiya grew up in. Child marriage and genital mutilation go hand in hand, both contributing to the oppression and inequalities women suffer every day around the world.

Ten years passed as Ntaiya excelled at University and went on to work for the United Nations, but she never forgot the vow she made to her village. Ntaiya had dreamed of being a teacher since she was small, and her mother always encouraged her dream, a dream that could lead Ntaiya to a better life. Ntaiya wished to bring that dream to life while improving the lives of girls in her village and the surrounding area whose dreams may not have otherwise been permitted to come to fruition.

Ntaiya returned to Kenya in 2009 and started up the first elementary school for girls in her village. She called it the Kenkenya Center for Excellence (KCE). Today, more than 150 girls are being educated and empowered at her school. Just five years old, the school is now among the top-ranked in the district. The school began as a day school, but because of the dangers the girls faced by walking to and from school every day, Ntaiya turned it into a boarding school. This not only keeps them safe, but ensures that their free time is not spent performing domestic chores. Students receive uniforms as well as three meals a day. The school hosts a wide variety of extracurricular activities such as sports teams and debate club, and boasts much individual attention. The girls are inspired to dream big. Some want to become teachers, pilots, doctors, and lawyers. Ntaiya said, “I came back so girls don’t have to negotiate like I did to achieve their dreams…That’s why I wake up every morning.”

It took years for Ntaiya to rally support for her cause and to persuade the village elders to donate the land necessary for the school. The school is public, so it receives some funding from the government. Families who can pay often pay using money, or in good such as maize or beans. Ntaiya assists those families who cannot pay. Ntaiya has one main stipulation: students who attend KCE will not be married off or undergo genital mutilation. Ntaiya was pleased at their agreement and support because that is just the change she was hoping to instill.

Ntaiya’s nonprofit also runs leadership education camps for all sixth-grade girls in the village to teach them about teen pregnancy, female genital mutilation, child marriage, and HIV/AIDS. The girls are informed of all of their rights.

In years to come, Ntaiya hopes to expand the school for younger students as well. She hopes that one day, the school will be the model of girls’ education in Africa, the enabler and empowerment of all girls’ dreams.

Source: CNN (http://www.cnn.com/2013/03/14/world/africa/cnnheroes-ntaiya-girls-school/index.html)

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CNN

Here, Kekenya Ntaiya stands before her school and her students at the Kekenya Center for Excellence in Enoosaen, Kenya.

The link to the website of the Kekenya Center for Excellence is: http://www.kakenyasdream.org/

 

Passion [for positive people] Blog — Connecticut Cowgirl Reins in At-Risk Youth

Hartford, Connecticut — Fred Wright, 17, grew up in a low-income neighborhood in Hartford surrounded by negative influences. Raised by a single mother, Wright transferred schools several times due to behavioral issues, and eventually began to feel worthless.

Wright’s life swung in a completely different direction when he met Patricia Kelly. Kelly is a former U.S. Marine who is also a cowgirl. She took Wright under her wing and placed him on a horse. Kelly, 66, says, “We use horses as a hook to create pride, esteem and healing. They learn that they have ability. They just have to unlock it.”

Kelly has, for the past 30 years, helped Hartford’s at-risk youth stay on the right track by staying in the saddle through her nonprofit, Ebony Horsewoman. Annually, over 300 youth participate in riding lessons and animal science classes at Ebony Horsewoman. Her stables are tucked away in a 693-acre park in the middle of Hartford. Ebony Horsewoman includes a stable, a riding arena, and an ice cream parlor, providing a paradise away from inner-city Hartford. On the farm, there are fourteen horses, one pony, chickens, fish, birds, turtles, and rabbits. All of these animals have been bred and cared for by the children.

Connecticut ranks as one of the wealthiest states in the U.S. However, it also ranks as one of the states with the largest disparity gap between the rich and the poor. Kelly, who has lived most of her life in Hartford, has witnessed the devastating ramifications of inequality on the youth of Hartford. Kelly wants to provide a happier alternative to the streets in the form of horsemanship, thus providing an opportunity to nurture a passion and turn life around.

One of the programs Kelly began is called the Junior Mounted Patrol which is for the young men and boys who come to Ebony Horsewoman. They patrol the park and report suspicious and criminal activity. It gives them a sense of purpose, authority, responsibility, and excitement. They also tend the barn and horses, take riding lessons, and participate in wellness workshops.

Kelly’s nonprofit has changes lives. Wright, who was seven when he first met Kelly, is now seventeen and aspires to attend Cornell University to study to become an equine blacksmith and a dentist. Kelly engendered the growth of not just youth, but dreams and goals. She has proven the therapeutic powers of horses and nature.

Source: CNN (http://www.cnn.com/2014/08/07/us/cnnheroes-kelly/index.html?iid=article_sidebar)

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CNN

Pictured above is Kelly with some of the Junior Mounted Patrol members.

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CNN

Above, a child takes a riding lesson at Ebony Horsewoman.

Passion [for positive people] Blog — Reuniting Soldiers and Their Best Animal Friends from Nowzad to New York

Imagine a soldier, far from home, lonely in a very foreign place. This soldier seeks normalcy, comfort even. One day he is walking with his squadron and they witness a dog fight. They break it up, and one of the dogs follows the soldier back to the base. They quickly become fast companions, completing each other. This is the story of Sergeant Pen Farthing. He fell in love with the dog that followed him back to the base, and named him Nowzad after the town he was fighting in. Farthing went through a strenuous process to get Nowzad back to England, and realized that he wanted to help other soldiers do the same.

Since the 2007 founding of Nowzad Dogs, Farthing has helped hundreds of soldiers reunite with stray dogs and cats they cared for in Afghanistan. His organization also opened up the first and only official animal shelter in Afghanistan that is now run by fourteen Afghanis, including four veterinarians. The shelter spays, neuters, and vaccinates stray animals and places rescued animals in caring homes in Afghanistan.

The feeling soldiers received when their Afghani animal friends would greet them upon returning to the base was deeply joyful and much needed. The bonds formed between the soldiers and the animals is symbiotic and therapeutic. They fill voids in both the life of the soldier and the life of the animal. The soldiers do not want to just abandon the animals they came to love, so Nowzad Dogs creates an opportunity for the friendship to carry on indefinitely. Caba met his Afghani dog, Cadence, at the airport in New York after she was shipped over by Nowzad Dogs. Caba said, “”When I pulled Cadence out of the crate at (the airport), I was just so excited. I was even more excited that she remembered me…It kind of brought me back to coming back after a mission and having her there. It brought me right back to that feeling.”

Source: CNN <http://www.cnn.com/2014/08/14/world/asia/cnnheroes-farthing/index.html>

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Sergeant Pen Farthing and Nowzad after returning home to England.

Image source: www.mirror.co.uk

Pen Farthing is the recipient of the 2015 CNN Hero Award for his work to improve not just the lives of soldiers by reuniting them with their animal loved ones, but also the quality of life for Afghanistan’s stray animals.

For more information about his award, follow this link: http://www.cnn.com/2014/11/18/world/2014-cnn-hero-of-the-year-pen-farthing/index.html

Passion [for positive people] Blog — Body Builder Strengthens the Disabled

Albany, New York — Ned Norton, a former trainer of Olympic athletes and bodybuilders, made a decision  that not only changed his life, but improved the lives of many.

One fateful day 25 years ago, a young man with a spinal chord injury walked into Norton’s gym and asked for help. Such physical and psychological progress was made with this young man, a news paper article was written, word spread, and Norton’s phone began to ring off the hook. It was then that he realized that this was his calling.

So he dedicated himself to providing twice-a-week strength and conditioning training for people with a wide range of physical and mental disabilities at low or no cost (many of his clients are already living on Social Security and disability income).The building in which the gym is located was donated to Norton by the city. The equipment he uses is specially made to fit the needs of his clients. Norton, who is the only trainer, trains 120 people per week at his nonprofit which he calls Warriors on Wheels.

Norton’s goal is to make his disabled clients as capable and independent as possible. He acknowledges that the world is more wheelchair friendly now, but that strength is required in order to get around in a wheel chair. His clients grow strong and independent, and they are able to live full lives. Kathleen Lane, 51, has multiple sclerosis. She said of Norton’s gym, “I come out of here feeling better than I do when I first come in … It changed my life. … Ned’s unbelievable.”

Clients are not only empowered with strength and confidence. They find themselves among peers who understand what they are going through. This is often a bonding experience between not just Norton and the clients, but also amongst the clients. A network of understanding and friendship is built and lives are changed.

Norton said that many of his clients have gone on to work again, drive again, and pursue their hobbies and interests without the limitation of their disabilities. Norton says, “I’m not a genius. I’m not a miracle worker … But I do know what I’m doing in the gym, because that’s what I love doing and that’s what I have to offer to people.”

ned norton's gym for the disabled
CNN
ned norton
CNN

Source: CNN <http://www.cnn.com/2014/05/01/us/cnnheroes-norton/index.html>

Passion [for positive people] Pilot Blog — Obama Opens Doors to Education

To reiterate, I have decided that this semester’s passion blog topic will be to focus, once a week, on an individual who has done something noteworthily positive and inspiring to better the world in some way, big or small.

This week, I would like to recognize President Barack Obama for announcing, in his sixth State of the Union Address, his plan to make community college education free for all Americans. Community college tuition currently ranges from $1,500-$7,000 depending on the state. Over the next ten years, Obama proposes that six billion dollars be invested so that the goal of free community college for all come to fruition in order to make “two years of college will become as free and universal as high school is today.”

It seems like a foolproof plan — who would disagree with this? Well, as usual, the issue of promoting education as a right has become a popularly polarized political issue. Many Republicans are opposing the somewhat costly investment, saying that if states want to, they can make community college free themselves, in order to minimize federal government control. However, Tennessee Republican Governor Bill Hasslan was actually the creator of a program after which Obama’s plan was modeled.

Obama’s plan is not designed to help “for profit” colleges and universities. It is only meant to help students who might not be able to graduate from or event attend an institute of higher education without the minimal cost of community college that would be enacted by the plan.

However, there are some strings attached to the plan. Not for students, but for the community colleges themselves. The colleges would have to make infrastructure changes, elevate graduation rates, and make credits transferrable to four-year colleges. Students receiving the free education must be at least part-time students maintaining GPAs of 2.5 or higher. These changes could potentially decrease attendance at for-profit and even state schools, and could drive up enrollment at community colleges. Ted Mitchell of the Department of Education acknowledged, “We think this is a good problem to have.”

Obama’s plan would change lives. It sends a message to our country and to our world about education and its station as a human birthright. It took great bravery for Obama to take such a strong stance on the issue, and despite the harsh criticism he has and will receive for his crucial idea, he remains stoic and inspiring as ever.

W.E.B. Dubois wrote, “Of all the civil rights for which the world has struggled and fought for 5,000 years, the right to learn is undoubtedly the most fundamental.” Obama’s plan solidifies my conviction that education is indeed a right, and my hope that education will not, for much longer, be experienced as a privilege.

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Image courtesy of www.nbcnews.com

Here, Obama is proposing his free community college plan in Tennessee on January 9, 2015.

Source: The New York Times <http://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/10/us/obama-announces-plan-to-pay-for-community-college.html?ref=us&_r=0>