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| Freedom Writers Diary Erin Gruwell |
2017 Reading Challenge - Day 5
January 5, 2017
Book 1 - Freedom Writers Diary
Part 5 - Pages 221-271
Reading Time - 1 hour
A lot of these kids are going to college! Some have athletic scholarships. Some are going to Harvard and Stanford and UCLA. Some have family issues that alter their plans. These were the kids that no one thought would amount to anything. They were the bottom of the barrel. No one expected them to graduate from high school, let alone go to college. What altered? One teacher's belief in them. Even though most of the teachers didn't think much of these students, it was enough that one person did... and that made all the difference.
That is a theme throughout this book... that one person can make a difference. Wherever they might be in their lives. "Whoever saves one life, saves the world entire". The students repeatedly state that they are going to break the cycle of violence, abuse and intolerance that has coloured their lives. They are going to be different. They will make a difference.
One student quotes Churchill - "To improve is to change; to be perfect is to change often". It's a reminder that we are never there. If we think we've finally arrived and can stop striving and changing... well, then we've lost it. We've given in to stagnation. There is no "perfect" place we are trying to reach. There is only change and transformation as a continuous path in front of us. Changes that either take us further along the path of improvement or down the path of deterioration. Cause it works both ways. I guess the question is how we know the difference. What direction are we headed? What is our goal? What sort of person do we want to become? Who do we want to be... not in the eyes of society but in our own eyes? The truth is that we have that choice to make every day - in so many different situations.
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