"Gifted Hands" - Its gotta come from somewhere...perhaps our parents!

I said in my last blog, that I find it hard to write when I have nothing really on my mind.
Well, this week is a completely different story.
I don't know what I was going through last week, feeling a bit overwhelmed perhaps, with new assignments and new classmates...just starting out the new year, and adjusting to it all.

Anyway, as I said, this week is the total opposite of last. It is a new week! And I am bubbling up inside, full of excitement and the joy of learning! Life is a journey, and we are all in for the only ride of our lives!
We should take in what we want, and ditch everything else we don't need!
Let the best things in life change us, for the better! Self empowerment is incredible! Once you allow yourself to experience it.

Last week, on one of my down times, I watched a movie called "Gifted Hands: The Ben Carson Story".
Cuba Golding Jr. is in it.
He acts out this role beautifully - a role about a black boy "who overcame seemingly insurmountable odds: A broken home, poverty, limited opportunity, and scholastic and behavioral problems."
You can find more information on the movie by clicking the "Gifted Hands" above, or by doing a google search, I simply typed in "Gifted Hands - movie with Cuba Golding Jr." and found that description from the first link provided. Here is another link with Ben Carson's Bio.

Anyway, this movie is totally inspirational; it's phenomenal!
What I got most out of this movie, was the fact that this little boy went from being one person, failing and having no self-esteem, to becoming a world renown pediatric neurosurgeon!
His defining moment in his career was doing the first separation of Siamese twins, joined at the head in 1987. That is what this movie focuses on. How this boy went from being on the disadvantaged end of the stick, to becoming on top!

This man, Ben Carson, went from being one person to another. And it was becauseof his mother's support and encouragement!
She made this possible.
At the time, just after the civil rights movement in the United States, Ben himself did not believe he could amount to anything worthy.
His mother, however, thought otherwise.
With just a Grade 3 education level herself, his mother continuously encouraged him to do better and reach higher for his dreams. In the movie, it shows that his mom would make him read books, and write a report on them each week! She would make her two boys read, instead of watch TV (which was very new and "in" back then too).

In the movie, the mother quotes
"You have the world inside your head. You just have to open it up, and find it!"
That quote honestly made me cry, because that is exactly it!!
If, when I become a teacher, can share that quote with my students, and invite them to share their thoughts...then the world of opportunity has opened up to the students!
We each have very powerful minds! It amazes me!
My question was then, "How do we spark the minds of curiosity?"
Everything that is known now, is because someone researched it. It all starts off with a question. A simple, "How?" or "Why?" or "What?"
We need to get things going here...and it all starts off with a question.
But HOW do we get the minds of Nunavut Students to open up, and actively think about the future?


Well, I think it's quite simple, in a sense.
Personally, I believe that each person have something to offer.
I believe people are just people!
No matter what title they have, no matter how much education they have, not matter where they come from. We are all the same, in the sense that we all breath air to live, and we all need to eat food and drink water. We are different, in the sense of how our minds work...and how we comprehend things.

Education, to my understanding, has to potential to enhance our skills to communicate our knowledge to the rest of the world. We all have our own minds, but education pushes us to perfect the skills we already have. Education teaches new ideas, and concepts, and perspective. Education also forces us to make connections with each other, as we collaborate and learn together, in an environment we all feel safe, and welcomed into.

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Anyway, I wanted to make the connection with that movie especially because it made me think.
Ben Carson became who he is, because of his mother's faith and support.

I, too, have a great mother.
She is amazing!
Almost every day I call her and tell her about my day, and what I am thinking.
No matter what she is doing, she will listen to what I have to say, and tell me what she thinks about it.
I love my mom so much. She is the reason I am who I am.
I get my passion for life, and learning, and wonder, from her!

She always told me, as Inuit...
"We need to move past survival, and into success"
Survival is success, but we need to do more than simply survive.
We need to prosper, and succeed!
Most times, success is shared, and survival can mean looking after yourself.
Ultimately, success is a shared event.
It could be an accomplishment!
It could be simply living your life, on your own two feet.
It could mean different things to different people.
What does Success mean to you?
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Wow, this is a long post.
Thank-you for reading, and I hope you have a great day!

Kerri