`You Never Stand So Tall as When You Bend to Help a Child’
By Kathleen M. Long
I still cannot believe I’m a grown-up. I’ve been an official one for about four months now. It’s official not because I graduated from Georgetown in May but because I’m surrounded by people who refer to me as “Ms. Long” all day, every day. They are very short and incredibly rambunctious people. In other words, I have moved from student to teacher.
My new home is in Chicago with the Inner-City Teaching Corps. It’s a long way from the Hilltop to Holy Innocents School on Chicago’s West Side, where, irony of ironies, our school mascot is also the bulldog. I, like many other recent alums, have been struggling with the sense of sadness I feel away from the place and friends I’ve called home for four years. However, I find strength in the fact that I feel as if I’m fulfilling the mission I received the first time I stepped through Healy Gates – “Be men and women for others.” That Jesuit phrase has become my mantra, propelling me toward both service and spirituality at Georgetown, as well as driving my current volunteer service with ICTC. That wonderful notion also fits perfectly with one of the mottos of my current school and my little bulldogs: “You never stand so tall as when you bend to help a child.”
The ICTC is the perfect continuation of my commitment to community service at Georgetown. I spend my days serving some of the neediest children of Chicago, giving my all in the classroom (and sometimes even beyond!) to engender a love of learning as well as to provide “my kids” with the skills they need to succeed in the world. But my commitment does not stop within the walls of the classroom, for all of the schools in which ICTC members serve need the energy and excitement of young teachers. We serve as coaches, activity coordinators and all-around role models to kids who might not have such examples of teamwork, fun and love in their lives. How could I better spend my first few years out of college?
Many post-graduate programs offer these same opportunities to those wishing to make a deliberate commitment to serve others. I would argue that the ICTC goes a step beyond all the others with its support and commitment to community, simple living and spiritual growth. Our professional development is so intense that even I, a former government major with no educational background, feel like a teacher.
In terms of emotional support, when I return home after either struggling or soaring, my community members – my eight housemates who make an old convent into a home – are there to greet me. We are a few months out of college, journeying down the same road together. Our dinner conversations provide support venting and so much laughter! Simple living provides me the opportunity to live like those I’m serving and to truly prioritize the material aspects of my life.
Finally, spirituality provides the living connection through it all. Regular reflections offer the opportunity for further personal development on my faith journey giving me the time and space to ask the tough questions about the lives of my children and search in my soul for the even tougher answers about my life. It provides a way for me to not, as Scott Pilarz, S.J., always warned us, “have the experience and miss the meaning.”
My commitment to community service while at Georgetown was not unique. Many of you feel and live this commitment. If you are looking for a way to continue living a life for others after Georgetown or if you are interested in the field of education and want some hands-on experience with the necessary professional and emotional support, we at the ICTC are the program for you.
Your service and achievements at Georgetown have brought you to great heights. Now share those gifts by bending to help others. I guarantee that you will never face a challenge greater or work harder than you will as an inner city teacher. And to put in bluntly, you will never receive greater rewards than when you make that connection or have that moment with a child.
Come to our informational meeting this Thursday, Nov. 4 at 7:30 p.m. in Seminar Room 1 in the MBNA Career Education Center if you’re ready for the challenge.
Kathleen M. Long is a graduate of the College.
