A Sky Where Eagles Fly
Contributed by Yolanda E. Brown
Before I discovered the "how to's" of success, I was very confused!
Oh, I had books and CDs promising to share with me the secrets of success. Some of them instructed me to write down my goals, and I did. Others instructed me in terms of how to win friends and influence people.
However, what I think helped me the most was observing successful people and attempting to follow their good examples. Remarkably (but not surprisingly) successful people are in full congruity with Linda Christas' educational philosophy.
From personal experience, I know that the way our public schools are structured, no one asks the individual student about his or her internal life, his/her ambitions, dreams, interests, skills or emotional preparedness to begin specific subjects or projects.
I was actively opposed by the "system." For example, I was repeatedly told that I would not succeed in the motivational speaking, counseling or theatrical fields because our society sought certain types of individuals and sadly for me, I did not meet society's standards. WOW! What a disappointment for a young person to absorb!
Well, I took the courses that I was directed to take in high school, many of which were taught by people who had no idea of who or what motivated me. They just never asked!
Happily, I did find a mentor who believed in me, someone who worked with me in the fields that were of interest to me as an individual, and when it was time for me to attend college, he was there for me to put me in touch with those who could and would appreciate my specific kind of talent.
Said differently, despite opposition from "the system," I worked hard in my areas of interest, and lo and behold, I received a college scholarship for public speaking and also one for Drama--after auditioning with the Drama department of the college.
My college major was Speech-Communications and, to the surprise of many at my former high school, I really excelled.
I am confident that the reason I excelled is that during my high school years, my mentor made certain that I did things that I enjoyed. That is, my mentor gave me a sense of purpose and direction and that made me stronger in all areas of my life.
I do believe that with the educational philosophies of Linda Christas, we can make life so much better for every high school student. We can give every student a sense of purpose, a purpose that starts with a solid belief in themselves and their unique talents.
Once students have an established, abiding faith in themselves, reaching the sky where eagles fly becomes possible.
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03/23/2007 
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I agree that schools often don't ask students about their ambitions, and a student should never be told that he/she can't succeed in a field of interest. Human nature has great capacity and time creates miracles. Even if a given student is far behind in "schooling" he/she can still succeed through independent learning. Unfortunately, I feel that a great many students don't know that independent learning is an option; as it was for Ben Franklin, Leonardo da Vinci, Einstein and a host of others over the years. The McGuffey Readers are still wonderful even after 170 years! Independent learning should be even more possible now in the Age of Information! The sky is the limit when students are given respect for their abilities to make choices. The trick is for the teacher, mentor, parent or tutor to open the sky in a useful and inspiring direction at just the right time for that student. Too many choices, as Barry Schwartz notes in his book The Paradox of Choice, can lead to paralysis.