The Secret to Success

It started with my devotion time in the morning. First, I would pray and ask God for wisdom. As far as I was concerned, God created them so He had a much better sense of what they needed. Two, I spent about 30 minutes envisioning what the class should look like. I actually taught the entire class in my thoughts so when the actual class took place, it wouldn’t be my first time teaching it. Then I put together a strong playlist. I used my music to help shape my thoughts on the ride over. I believed that the physical environment played just as much a role in the learning process as the lesson and the teacher. I did not have a lot to work with but I plastered images of great African Americans throughout history in an attempt to inspire my students to reach greatness. My final pre-game routine was to look over the lesson to make sure no changes were needed then I would walk over to the classroom door so I could greet each student with a smile, a hug and a specific word of encouragement to help set the tone of the class.

As time went on, I began to tap into my network and started building a library of great motivational books and videos from people like Les Brown, Tony Robbins and Zig Ziglar. Whenever I finished with the book or tape I put it in the community center’s library so my students could have access to them. I was so concerned with staying pumped up and motivated that I put together an “In Case of a Rainy Day box.” Black taught me the importance of forecasting challenges so you can cut them off at the root. The box wasn’t elaborate or expensive to make. It had little simple stuff in it like my favorite underdog movies, songs, books, poems, and goals for the year. Whenever I felt the slightest bit of discouragement and felt like giving up I would get my “In Case of a Rainy Day” box and encourage myself. My philosophy was that your spirit affects your disposition. If my spirits were negative, how would that affect others? So I tried to stay enthusiastic about life and I fought to maintain an upbeat disposition. I wasn’t getting paid to teach my students. My only reward was their success so I wasn’t about to waste their time or mine.

CHAPTER

14

P.U.S.H

(Push Until Something Happens)

“Never underestimate the importance of the beginning. The beginning has the seeds of everything else to come. Started a G.E.D. program in the hood and the rest was history.”

We must accept finite disappointment, but we must never lose infinite hope.

Almost an entire year had passed since I dropped everything to pursue my dream and no results. Not one student had registered for the G.E.D. test. An entire year of preparation and I was unable to convince one student that they needed to take the test. I was starting to believe I had made a big mistake. Maybe the doubters were right. Maybe I jumped the gun; I should have stayed in school; I kept thinking, maybe I should just throw in the towel and give up the hoop dream. Go get a “real job.”

“With every deed you are sowing a seed, though the harvest you may not see.” - Ella Wheeler Wilcox