Letter to Reggie Blackwell

37 St Johns Pl.

Brooklyn, NY 11217

September 18, 2014

Reggie Blackwell

Guest Speaker, ENGL C0862

City College of New York, CUNY

Dear Mr. Blackwell:

      Thank you for visiting and sharing your life experiences with the class. As teachers, it’s important we should understand the reasons why students may not succeed in their attempts to acquire formal education. Of course, in theory, we know the reasons. However, it’s always much more powerful when the story comes from a real person who lived the experience.

      I was very impressed with the objectivity with which you told your story. It’s rare that people relate past, perhaps painful, experiences without self-pity but your story didn’t contain even a hint of that. On the contrary, your narration focused on the positive events in your life and emphasized your optimistic outlook. In my opinion, that character trait is extremely important and, perhaps, one of the main reasons that you have ultimately achieved such a high level of formal education. The idea that there’s only one way to be happy is a very limiting perspective and I believe that you, by saying that you were always pretty happy despite somewhat trying circumstances, demonstrated that self-satisfaction and well-being aren’t tied to anything particular that you may achieve. Rather, they are a product of positive interaction with the people in your environment.

      Finally, I applaud your response to one of my classmates’ questions about how your “lack of education” negatively impacted your life. You were able to verbalize, without condescension, the fact that you never lacked education.  Rather, that you hadn’t received the required amount of formal education. I think that people sometimes forget that there’s a whole world of practical experience and knowledge that people acquire over a lifetime. I think that practical knowledge is as important, if not more important, than anything you can ever learn in school. Rather than noting a “lack”, we teachers need to focus on and respect what people do know and then work toward helping them expand their body of knowledge in a more academic direction.  Again, thank you for sharing your story. You have a special gift to share with people who may not have started in the best place. If you continue to share your experiences, I’m sure that you’ll positively impact many lives.

Sincerely,

Caitlin Geoghan