Defeated

Depleted.  Drained.  Discouraged.  Disappointed.  Disgusted.

Education.  Educator.  Educate.  Educated.

Main Entry: ed·u·ca·tion 

Pronunciation: \ˌe-jə-ˈkā-shən\

Function: noun

Date: 1531

1 a : the action or process of educating or of being educated; also : a stage of such a processb : the knowledge and development resulting from an educational process education>
2 : the field of study that deals mainly with methods of teaching and learning in schools

Main Entry: ed·u·cate 

Pronunciation: \ˈe-jə-ˌkāt\

Function: verb

Inflected Form(s): ed·u·cat·ed; ed·u·cat·ing

Etymology: Middle English, to rear, from Latineducatus, past participle of educare to rear, educate, from educere to lead forth — more ateduce

Date: 15th century

transitive verb1 a : to provide schooling for home> b : to train by formal instruction and supervised practice especially in a skill, trade, or profession
2 a : to develop mentally, morally, or aesthetically especially by instruction b : to provide with information : inform <educatingthemselves about changes in the industry>
3 : to persuade or condition to feel, believe, or act in a desired way intransitive verb

Main Entry: educated

Function: adjective

Date: 1588

1 : having an education; especially : having an education beyond the average 
2 a : giving evidence of training or practice :skilled  b : befitting one that is educated  c : based on some knowledge of fact 

— ed·u·cat·ed·ness noun

I am an educator.  This is news to me, but I am an educator.  I am also a philanthropist, also news to me.  I am a social worker, a psychologist, a mathematician, an entrepreneur, an artist, photographer, writer, producer, coach, teacher, but most of all I am an educator!!

I am an advocate.  This is also news to me, but I am an advocate.  I am an advocate for my mother, my grandmother, my sisters.  I am an advocate for my students, and my players.  I am an advocate for my friends and for strangers.  I have become an advocate for anyone and everyone that needs advocacy.

I am the keeper of the cause.  I find causes everyday all day long.  I do not actually see it that way, I just simply like helping people, but others have pointed out that I seem to have an awful lot of causes that I have taken up.

All of this is probably very true about me to some extent or another, and probably to a great extent, but my question for everyone on the planet would be why is everyone else, everyone, not the same way.  I know I have written this at some point along the way, but how great a world would this be if everyone on the planet was always trying to help others, always doing what they could for people in their lives, always trying to help a stranger in need??  The answer is it would be an amazing place.

I have no ability to understand anyone who does not do all they can every day for the betterment of the planet.  I do not understand anyone that does anything specifically aginst the betterment of the planet, or even of a small group of people on the planet, and I most definitely cannot understand how anyone can be employed at an educational institution, be it nursery school, kindergarten, elementary, junior high, high school, preparatory school, private college, or state university, and probably most importantly state university, that is not, does not want to be, or has no ability to be, an educator.

State university systems exist to allow those less fortunate in those states get a quality education for a reasonable price, and in some cases essentially no price.  I am now living in Boise, and helping with some of the activities on the Boise State campus, and I am amazed, and impressed with the level of commitment on that campus, in the community, and in the state, to provide the highest possible environment of learning humanly possible.  The students at Boise State pay very little, relatively speaking, as compared to other states.  These students pay a lot relative to their ability to pay, but very little in the grand scheme, and they get a very high level of education.  The people I have been involved with here really care about not just maintaining that level of education, but increasing the level.  The motto that is everywhere in this town is New U Rising.

Why are there other state universities, in other states, where so many people are allowed to be a part of the "educational" process on those campuses, and I use the term very loosely, that either don't care, or don't have a clue, or some combination of both.  There are examples where from the president down the level of educational INTEGRITY is so far beyond low, that it is truly non-existent.  Where the almighty budget is what rules the decision making process, not sound educational principals.

Why have a math department, or a math curriculum, if no math is actually going to be taught, where all math courses that fall under general education, or remedial, or both, are allowed to be taught ON-LINE.  Math cannot be taught effectively on-line, and any IDIOT knows this.  I do not think you could stop a single person on the street and ask them "do you think that teaching algebra over the internet is a good idea," without them making a scrunched up face and saying that is a horrible idea.  How about Statistics??

Likewise, what about the universities that have athletics, but do not support those athletics to any extent.  How is that educational.  How is good education to allow athletic teams to be ill-equipped, whether it is from a coaching standpoint, training standpoint, recruiting, scholarships, travel, scheduling, or anything else that is key to building a successful, competitive program.  It is not about winning and losing, necessarily, at least not from an educational standpoint, but it is about caring enough, and having pride enough in what you do on a field, or court, and especially as part of a team, to be as prepared, focused, and physically ready to give everything you have mentally and physically for the duration of the contest in question.  If an athlete has prepared well, played hard, "left everything on the field," to steal a phrase, then at least they are learning life lessons that they will use as they progress beyond the safe confines of their campus life.

However, if a president, or dean, or vice president, or athletic director, or any and all of the above, allow, even if it is through apathy, athletes, and especially athletic teams, to go out and represent themselves, their teams, and their schools or universities in anything but the best way humanly possible by that athlete and those teams, then not only are those SO CALLED educators not doing their jobs, but they are doing irreparable harm to all involved, and to allow this is as immoral an act as anything imaginable.  These people are stripping these students and athletes of all potential learnings available to them through the building of a strong team environment, but they are also damaging their souls permanently.

It is not ok that we allow this in this country, or in this world.  It is not ok that such apathetic people exist in an educational system, especially in a system built for higher learning, and it is not ok that no one does anything to address or fix these problems, but then again when the president or head of school, or principal does not care enough to instill these educational values and cornerstones then why should anything below that point be any better.

In case anyone is wondering, I am not saying this is a question of pay people more in education, although I know overall for education in this country that is true, but if a president is making $ 280,000 a year, or a professor is making $ 120,000 a year, or an athletic director, or similar position, is making $ 60,000 a year, or more, in a tenured position, this is not about money, this is about disgraceful human behavior, and it should be made to stop.

Thank you again for getting this far with me.