This is for you, Miguel.
But more importantly, this is for you, dear reader.
Because I’m about to leave you inspired…and ashamed…and saddened. And yes, I’m fully aware that the world is falling apart right now, and the last thing you want is more guilt and gloom.
However, the truth is a bit of suffering and a bite of humble pie are two of the fastest ways to make you a better person and a more successful human being.
So let me share a story with you from my life today, and after reading it, let me know if it opened your eyes to some things you need to remember.
My story begins with Miguel.
Miguel is a fifteen-year-old in my English class. He’s only been in the United States for six months, and his knowledge of the English language is almost non-existent.
Because he’s struggling in my class, I called his fourth block teacher and asked if Miguel could stay with me to get help. Fourth block is my planning period, so I knew I could give him my undivided attention.
The teacher agreed, so Miguel came in, and we began to work.
While he was busy at his seat, I decided to take care of some unattended teacher business. I looked at my attendance rosters, knowing I needed to call home to parents whose students were missing class frequently.
As I looked over my students’ absences, I noticed one young man who had not been in my class nor two others in over two weeks. Yet, strangely enough, he had been attending his fourth block class. So I called his fourth block teacher and asked if the teacher could send the student to me to talk.
When the young man got there, I asked him why he was missing class and explained the importance of passing his classes to graduate. And even though he was failing all of his subjects, he listened half-heartedly, no doubt having heard this lecture many times before.
The absentee student I spoke to is also Latino. However, unlike Miguel, he’s lived in the United States since he was two. I explained to him I needed to contact his parents, and he replied they didn’t speak English.
However, since Miguel was there, I asked the student if it was okay if Miguel translated to his parents for me. He said that was fine.
So the student got his mother on the phone, and I used Google translate to tell Miguel what I needed him to say. He did so. After the phone call was finished, he translated that the mother was very grateful and would try to get her son on track.
Having completed my mission, I told the student he could return to his fourth block class. However, before he could leave, Miguel began speaking to him. This is unusual because Miguel is as shy as they come, and he didn’t even know the student for whom he had translated.
After the student left, I was curious about the conversation between the two but didn’t want to pry.
Luckily, Miguel wanted to tell me what he’d said to the boy. He typed the following into Google translate:
“I tried to tell him he is very lucky and that he should make the most of his abilities. I told him how jealous I was that he could speak English perfectly when I tried so hard and struggled. I told him his parents brought him here so he could do well in life, and he needs to make them proud by making something of himself.”
When I read those words on the computer screen, the tears fell. I couldn’t stop them, no matter how hard I tried.
I told Miguel how proud I was of him for being brave enough to say these words, and I expressed his statements to the boy probably made more difference than mine ever could.
I then continued helping Miguel with his work, even though my brain was swirling and my heart was bleeding.
When the school bell rang, I closed my door and began to write. It has been my whole life’s work to transmit knowledge, and this is why I knew I had to tell you Miguel’s story.
Because there’s a gold mine of knowledge to be gained from those boys’ five-minute interaction.
What I learned and what you need to learn too
Long story, short?
We should be more grateful for our blessings.
Sounds cliche, right?
Doesn’t matter. It’s true.
And the reason for our lack of gratitude is we’re spoiled.
We get up and complain about our jobs. We moan and say we’re so tired of the nine to five we could vomit. We complain about unexpected bills or whine that gas prices have gone up. We throw a fit about the bad traffic that made us late or the fact our hairdresser’s rates have gone up.
Boo-hoo.
Here’s poor Miguel, stuck in a high school where he is bullied mercilessly simply for where he comes from. A school where he sees students pointing and giggling at him in each class. He knows what’s going through their heads. You don’t need to know English to know what “Go back to your own country” looks like.
The truth is he’s an outsider in this small Southern town, and he’ll continue to be that way for a while.
And he knows that.
Yet every day, he comes to school, where he is ridiculed and alienated, to honor his family’s sacrifices to give him a better life. Every day (I’m sorry to say), he goes to classes where teachers ignore him because they don’t know how to teach “those foreigners.”
Yet still, he comes, like a gallant knight poised for battle, to be better, smarter, and more successful.
The bottom line:
Take a moment to think about your life. How does it seem to you now when you compare it to Miguel’s daily struggles?
The point is while you’re complaining about your boss’s nasty mood, millions are living a life like his.
Most of us are blessed beyond measure, and we should honor that fact. And if people like Miguel can continue to fight for what they want under such horrible circumstances, we can too.
No excuses.
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This post was previously published on medium.com.
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You may also like these posts on The Good Men Project:
White Fragility: Talking to White People About Racism | Escape the “Act Like a Man” Box | The Lack of Gentle Platonic Touch in Men’s Lives is a Killer | What We Talk About When We Talk About Men |
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