Day 25: The Reason You Believe You're Still Alive Today

Day 24 is missing, for now.  I'm supposed to have made a playlist for someone and explain my choices of songs. I'm stuck on it. Deal with it.

Why am I still alive today? Hmm, I know there has to be a reason because, if I'm honest, its a probably a small miracle.  Looking back over all the stupid shit that I did (jumping out of windows, etc) and unwholesome (to say the least) characters that I got my young self involved with, I very likely could've turned out terribly.  Without much effort, I can think up close to ten near-death-experiences.  Is this normal?   Why was I the one who survived the car accidents, the abusive relationships, the nights of excess?

There has to be a reason.  There must be something I am meant to do. I'm not just lucky. I certainly don't feel lucky most days.

I have a dream.  I dream of creating or being heavily involved with a private, non-profit organization that offers after-school care to girls.  They wouldn't have to be considered "underprivileged" or "troubled".  They would just have to want to be there.  It would be a very intentional program.  The girls would receive extra education, free counseling, mentoring, and a safe environment to grow their dreams.  I would hope that the girls would be able to be enrolled from elementary school through high school, after which college scholarship opportunities would exist.

Why do I believe something like this is necessary? One of my many jobs (four, currently. I kid you not) is to assist in an after-school enrichment program.  A majority of the students are there because their parents have placed them there to get them caught up or ahead in school.  During the school year, a smaller percentage of the students are there as a part of the "No Child Left Behind" bill.  Now, I'm not going to get into a huge discussion of the bill and it's effectiveness because it is controversial and I don't have all the facts.  What it has done for me is highlight how bad public schools are, at least in this area.  It is not uncommon to have students come in from the more urban schools reading at a kindergarten level even though they are freshman in high school.  It's so sad.  My heart aches for these kids.  As a rule, they aren't motivated to do school work. They aren't going to get anywhere with the attitudes they have now. I wish they'd believe it if someone told them that it was for their own good and they'd regret not trying later in life.

No matter what I do, I hope to see kids like this succeed.  The world can't be a better place if people don't try.