Hair Was Pulled Straight Back

¶ … hair was pulled straight back and rolled in a tight bun. With sharp eagle eyes she surveyed the classroom, a sense of dread hung in the air. In a piercing clear tone she said, "Good morning everyone, I am Mrs. Clarke and you are here to learn." I can't remember seeing her laugh in class, but often when a question was answered she would give a wry smile. Mrs. Clarke my high school English teacher was dedicated, forthright, and a stickler for accuracy.

Students entered her class with a sense of trepidation but left feeling that they had learnt more than English. Her influence has left an indelible impression on my mind. She did not teach English she taught life. I entered her class very shy and self-conscious. I kept to myself and rarely talked to other students far less for talking in class. I tried very hard to hide in the classroom, slinking behind other students and always avoided the teachers gaze. This was successful ploy in other classes.

Not in this one. This class was different, Mrs. Clarke would search you out and call on you, there was no hiding place in the class. She seemed to call on you particularly when you did not have the answer. When you said you did not know the answer she would say "I did not ask about what you know, I said what do you think?" She wanted to know my thoughts and very few persons every want to know that.

Combined with her strong desire to see student s succeed was a penchant for bringing out the best in students. My time in her class taught me that thinking was more important than knowing. From her I learnt that even when you don't know that should not preclude you from thinking. I have carried this posture throughout my life. She awakened a latent desire and, that is an eternal gift. The right of gay couples to marry is a divisive and contentious issue. The decision by U.S.

District Court Judge Vaughn Walker to strike down proposition eight from California was a critical point in the debate relating to gay rights. While I do not wish to discuss the merits of the decision, the issues it raises are very significant particularly individual freedom. Individual freedom is a precious and inalienable right of all persons; it must be protected and fiercely defended. I personally believe that the choices an individual makes as it relates to their sexual preferences is just that, individual and personal.

These decisions as long as they do not infringe on the opportunity of other persons to enjoy their life or constitutionally protected rights, should not be a problem. The state should not allow its legislative tentacles to enter the bedrooms and private domains of individuals to legislate behavior. When the state does this the state has gone too far in restricting on individual freedom. Individual freedom is a critical issue for all persons.

Nations are only steps away from totalitarian systems and families from authoritarian parents when individual freedoms are restricted. Individuals should have the freedom to pursue a course of action, even when that course of action is incongruous with the majority desire. The discussion surrounding the issue as it relates to gays and children raised in gay homes, or the sanctity of marriage, mask what is truly at stake for all of us in this country. The successful preservation of freedom starts with individual freedom.

Americans believe in individual freedom, not just for some Americans but for all. Any attempt to abrogate the rights of selected individuals, in the pursuit of some elusive moral dream, harms all of us. The loss of rights for one group, however small, is a loss of rights for all. Life is a mixture of varied experiences, and you accept the bitter as well as the sweet. This is not just a maxim it really aptly describes many aspects of my life.

I may believe that I have received more bitter than sweet. However I would not exchange it, because it has been the crucible that has formed me into the person that I am today. My strength is a testimony to my ability to overcome fierce obstacles and turn the impossible into the achievable. In my formative years I lived on a farm. Farm life was difficult and required multiple sacrifices to accomplish things. The work was arduous and sustained, beginning early in the morning to late at night.

On a farm there was limited leisure.