Happiness Is Not Found In "Stuff"

I recently had the privilege of traveling to Kenya; it was an extraordinary trip of a lifetime! Most of my time was spent visiting schools. We spent time in elementary, secondary, and special needs schools. The one thing that really resonated with me was how happy and engaged the learners and teachers were, despite having very limited quantities of “stuff.”

 

If you are like me, I can’t count the number of times I have added one more item to my “wish list” thinking… then I’ll have all I need.

However, most of the schools I spent time in had dirt floors, no electricity, and no running water. Children would walk miles (some up to 7) a day to get to a school that had four tattered text books shared among 23 students. Five fifth grade boys sit all day long in a desk designed for two students, switching turns at partially hanging off the edge of the seat. Despite these challenges, they were happy and engaged learners! 

Teachers made due with no classroom decorations, teacher manuals, smart boards, white boards, or manipulatives – they used the same hole in the ground as the students for their bathroom. Despite these challenges, teachers were excited about teaching and dedicated to their students.

 

These dedicated teachers understand that good teaching does not come from having stuff, but in engaging learners in the wonder and amazement of God’s creation. These children understand that if they want a better life, education is their one chance. They have spent time and energy building relationships with each other, challenging each learner to reach to his or her highest God-given potential…and they are happy!                                                                      

What a privilege to witness this. I am so very thankful for all the comforts and toys I have been blessed with. But I need to be reminded that they are just that…blessings to be enjoyed and shared. I have not earned them and do nothing to deserve them; they are simply mine by God’s grace. That grace and mercy is the true source of our happiness. Our relationship with HIM and with the people he has placed in our life—that is the source of happiness. The constant pursuit of “stuff” will only leave me with a longer wish list, and a longing for what always seems to be missing. Lasting peace and happiness is mine, and it does not pass through the free market.

Dr. Rhoda Wolle is an Assistant Professor of Education and the Director for the Academic Success Center at Wisconsin Lutheran College in Milwaukee. Rhoda has been awarded her BS in Secondary and Primary Education, her MA in Education with an emphasis in students at risk, and her PhD in Educational Psychology.  Her areas of focus include student success and faculty professional development. Rhoda has spoken internationally to educators, parents, and teens on the topic of education. In her spare time she enjoys traveling, music, and walks with her dog.

Hey, It's Me...

It is not a career. It is not a job. It is not a responsibility. And if others look at what I do, they would hardly call it a life. But urban education is me. Somehow the lifestyle of an urban educator has raptured my being, so now my identity has been morphed into: Mrs. Weber, an educator in the inner city. I never would have chosen this for myself. But you don’t choose the circle, the circle chooses you.

As educators, we must transfer knowledge from one brain to another, which in and of itself is a feat.
Think about it. When you are teaching, you must take what you have come to know and understand,
engrained inside of you by experience and exposure, and somehow take that something inside you and
move it through space and matter and skulls and nerves and hurts and pains…through all of that - and
try to get it inside of someone else’s brain. And it isn’t just knowledge: it is life skills and emotions and
priorities and values and beliefs.

How is this possible? How can I get someone to feel accomplished for understanding the classifications of triangles? How can I get someone to understand the joys of the agonizing relationship between Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth in Pride and Prejudice, transcending out of their own body and language and country and time to fully appreciate their love story? How can I get a 12-year-old to understand the purpose of sitting still and listening so that they can learn when I, a 28-year-old, can’t even track my own colleagues’ dialogue if it does not interest me? How can I infuse a child with knowledge and understanding so when I am calling him or her a scholar, I actually believe it?

Teaching is not the type of job where you could ever keep an accurate time punch card. You could
never quantify nor qualify its value. You can’t master it. You can’t replicate it. And if you are doing it
right, I don’t even think you can ever really leave it. It happens to you. It becomes you. And soon you
are wrapped up in the impossible task of infusing knowledge and understanding to young minds... And
if you are doing it right, you find that you are actually giving yourself away. You share your experiences,
life, stories, personality, and being. You come to learn and understand your audience, connecting
with them so that the transfer can be complete. If this connection is not made, then the transfer of
knowledge and understanding will never happen. We must make the connection.

So, just like the rest of effective urban educators, I give myself away. I connect. And it will never be the
same for you as it is for me—but we all do it. Because, well, you know, it’s more than just me. It’s we.

Bio:
Sarah Weber is a teacher at St. Marcus Lutheran School. When Sarah is not teaching, she loves writing, hiking, reading, and enjoying coffee.