"Whenever you feel like criticizing any one, just remember that all the people in this world haven't had the advantages that you've had."     -The Great Gatsby

Memory:
My mother, sister and I were living in California in the early 1990's. We lived in a barrio in Los Angeles with mostly all Latino families. My mother tried her best to give us a good life on the little money she made. We went to church, a bilingual school, and played with others in the neighborhood. There even was a lady with over 20 cats in her house. My mother struggled but never once did we hear her complain about how bad it really was.

Gang shoot outs were common in our area. Through one of these shoot outs, we were doing what we regularly did, laying flat on the ground away from all windows. However I was a very curious six year old and rarely listened to my mother. I rose up and ran to the kitchen window to see the action. When I went to see there was a man with a gun right outside our door. It was the scariest thing I had seen up until then. I can still picture his eyes. My mother who had been yelling at me, quickly grabbed me and pulled me into the living room. This was normal in our neighborhood.

Meaning:
I am currently re-reading The Great Gatsby and came across the quote above. At times I look at people and am quick to assume and judge. But then I take a step back and think that a person behaves and thinks a certain way due to their experiences. I quickly go into what I call "social worker mode"-taking a look at that persons strengths instead of weaknesses.

A persons childhood experiences are what shapes them into the adult that they are to become. The gang shoot outs in LA were normal to me, it wasn't until I moved back to Maryland that I realized that I had been living in a really violent neighborhood. This is the reason why I want to work with children and more specifically children who live in areas like this. Children who grow up only knowing this type of life.

So tell me why are people so quick to judge other people without knowing anything about them? Next time I challenge you to drop your assumptions and get to know someone before actually judging their character.

“If you want your children to be intelligent, read them fairy tales. If you want them to be more intelligent, read them more fairy tales.”  -Albert Einstein

When I taught pre-school I had a pair of parents who questioned and challenged the curriculum we taught. They wanted to have the school dismiss all fairy tale books and projects we conducted with the children. Some of their reasons were that they condoned violence and portrayed women as inferior creatures. I argued with the parents that the stories I read were part of the American literature that we all grew up with. These books helped show the differences between right and wrong. Even more importantly these sort of stories opened up a world of imagination to children.

But that was just the problem...they didn't want their child to have an imagination.They wanted their child to face reality and for the pre-school to incorporate books on poverty and starvation around the world. I couldn't believe these parents. Don't get me wrong, I understand that children should face reality at some point. However a child becomes a better individual when they have a mind that reaches beyond this world. A mind that can lead to writing incredible books to building something that no one ever thought of.

So to those parents who limited the chance for their child to explore the world and make his own interpretations about it...I hope that he defies your ideas. I hope he one day strives to reach beyond his own dreams.