Did you ever have that one black teacher in high school who used to stop you in the hallways and hound you about your clothing, your language or just your choice of friends?
You never had a class with this particular teacher, but it seemed as if he or she knew everything about you except your blood type.
The attention may have made you feel uncomfortable at the time, but now that you look back, didn’t it feel good to have someone looking out for you?
After all, no one could logically take offense to someone who wants to help you become something special simply because you share the same skin color.
If you open your ears and eyes, you might see that some people know you better than you think.
We belong to the “me” generation, intent on proving our individuality and independence, “knowing it all.”
With this, we take such role models like these for granted, thinking that these old folks just want to come around and stifle our expression.
But they were once young and lively, and they now understand the ways in which we try to represent ourselves -and the repercussions behind them-better than we do.
If we took the time to listen, these unsolicited mentors-professors, bus drivers or even bums on the corner- can tell us things we already knew, things we didn’t know, and things we didn’t really want to know.
It is apparent that these folks are going to talk. So what we need to do is take notes and reflect upon the wisdom being given us.
We could all use a little help along the way, no matter how simple or unfamiliar. Believe it or not, it really does take a village.
Karen E. Marsh is a senior business administration student from Denver. She is the Deputy Opinions Editor for The Famuan. Contact Karen E. Marsh at karenemarsh303@hotmail.com.