A Life of Civic Engagement

Most of the time I talk about being civically engaged through methods such as voting, joining community groups or boards, etc. Today I spoke with a living example of civic engagement. For the sake of anonymity we'll call him JM. We crossed each other's paths while I was checking out the UT Austin Alumni Center during a field trip my program was taking on campus and JM was taking pictures of the center's main lounge. He explained to me that eventhough he attended UT as a student many years ago, he'd never been able to visit the alumni center. While a student at UT, JM became ill and his illness significantly limited his experience as a first-year student and eventually caused him to drop out of school altogether.

After recovering from his illness, JM kicked around for a while before finally earning his degree in Education from a local institution. Flash forward to the present time and he is now teaching Math at a high school in the Rio Grande Valley. He tells me that he has too many students in each of his classes, most with students that often worry more about being shot or having a roof over their head than solving equations and proving theorems. Still, JM smiles when talking about a few students that "get it'. Students to whom he has pledged to do whatever is possible to help them get where they want to go. This simple, unassuming and ordinary looking man, astonishes me with story after story of connections that he has made with his students and their families.

There was one story in particular about several students on the brink, torn between school and gang affiliation, with tremendous potential and a former student (also gang affiliated) who visited with JM after school. The former student asked JM if any of his students were giving him any trouble or not showing up to class and upon hearing about these students the former student assured JM he would "take care of it". From that moment on, those same students might have skipped other classes, but never JM's class. JM gives me a dizzying list of all of his ideas and thoughts about what his kids need and the ways that he's able to get his kids to open up see a way to a life better than the current one that is a daily fight to survive.

As I listen to JM brag about some of his students and articulate the hope that he has for his future pupils, I cannot help, but wonder if JM will ever do anything more than teach Math in the Rio Grande Valley. As if on cue, JM tells me that he is considering a return to UT to enhance his education, but isn't sure whether or not doing so would be worth it. I don't know if JM will take his gifts and passion any further than the depressed region of southern Texas and I don't know if he and I will ever cross paths again. What I am sure of is that while JM may not see it, he is a living, breathing example of what it means to be civically engaged. JM is not just teaching the kids in his class, he is showing them support and accountability that most of the world around them doesn't have time or the energy to offer.

JM is investing in his community the greatest resource his has in his possession, himself.  By doing so, he is proving that it doesn't take much to become civically engaged, just eyes to see a need and the will to answer it.