Suggestion – play this music at the word START below . 🙂 .  It will be a virtual experience but thanks to a very dear friend, it helps to reconnect with individuals that delve into the meaningful 🙂   

So first play this, 

then this :

as you read this blog today 🙂 .  Remember, no cheating – Start at the word START below!  Thanks Esther for being part inspirer of this blog!

 I am about three months behind on posts that normally would be posted – so (fingers crossed) the next few days I will be doing my best to retrace amazing events from August of this year to present – so much and so little time, but every day that passes reminds me, you need to make time for the very things that revive you – especially in a day and age when so much seems to try to go wrong – individuals that hold onto that stubborn quality of bring what is dear to the surface – help others live through the tough and trying times, and we have had those as of late as everyone knows.

START!  🙂   When I started the decision to take one graduate class a semester at Florida State – I kind of groaned heavily inside but knew it was the right decision in being something I wanted to pursue to be knowledgable and learning more than I knew already.  I lucked out with picking the right degree, the right school, the right path – but as I finished a grueling research paper today on how graphic novels can represent and motivate more authors and illustrators to represent better people of color – in a world that currently puts up barriers and stereotypes in doing so, I realized how inspiring it is to find a topic, write a paper, that can also have implications and practical use in real life to make the world better.  My head raced at the same time I was pulling pertinent bits of info from this article :

https://drive.google.com/file/d/14RJCQa27Qb5sMc3ip9vV72_lbs2RC0aE/view?usp=sharing

and then my review of this article which took MUCH longer than expected:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1_u6yKenstgF0Euu_riz4jYvhfKQrFedU/view?usp=sharing

At first thought not much motivating about a research paper but wait, think about this.  The whole premise of taking something most people see in one light, say graphic novels, from my experience has been Comics and nothing more than that.  When I started delving into graphic novels thanks to my dear friends Mocte and Javi, I realized how deep they can be. I began to examine the graphic novels about Civil Rights Marches, The Katrina disaster, issues on immigration, relocating to a new country and I realized how POWERFUL graphic novels can be in reaching individuals that normally might think they hate literacy.  My whole thought process during this essay and assignment was how such a medium does in fact work and can benefit the way society sees race, diversity, and the ability to see other differing viewpoints that individuals might have taken the time, or care to consider – things would change.

Add in this past weekend, perhaps one of the most beautiful days I can remember, walking along the Killens Pond Trail, with am amazing group of Cross Country athletes that had enough bravery, energy, commitment, and determination to be part of a new cross-country team where every member, die to those same qualities mentioned, dropped their times by record amounts from the beginning of the season.  I could not thin of any group I would rather be surrounded by – the leaves turning, the perfect fall day surrounded by individuals that all beat goals they probably thought could never be achieved.  Such a good day and so proud of these young ladies and men.

Sometimes you are lucky enough to surround yourself with some of the most motivating individuals that you often take for granted and realize it again when you most need it. Talking with my friend Esther, I remembered some of the best days I never knew existed thanks to friends like Esther when I was in Mexico.  The days of summer camp and amazing students grabbing y hand and wanting to play hopscotch, jump rope and a hundred other things that just made me feel good inside, the laughter and ease of being able to come home and just relax at the corner Bodega or Mercado with friends night after night, and hearing Esther’s new adventure of delving into some exiting chapter of her life – and I realized, the motivation I felt when I was realizing possibilities from a RESEARCH paper, as well as the motivation I felt when I was surrounded by this very young Woodbridge High Cross Country team and seeing them achieve what they wanted simply by pushing themselves forward – if we surround ourselves with people who believe we can add an extra push in our lives everyday, we will surmount any doubts of tacking anything we wondered about doing.  I have seen it play out already hundreds of times and that is the truth in theory and reality.

This year a scorching hot summer has quickly turned into Fall and rapidly becoming colder.  Yet, despite the rapid pace of events, the tragedy after disappointment and heartache in the world that occurs, there is hope individuals we have as friends such as Esther an awesome dreamer that can change the world with her dreams, my friend Andrea who constantly challenges the world through Science and is relentless in finding ways to improve the world from her lab in Johns Hopkins, my amazing cross-country athletes and their parents who encourage and instill them with faith, courage, and a path to beat the odds, as well as the brave faculty members that surround me and impress me every day with creativity that surrounds me and their students in looking forward to tomorrow despite muc ugliness floating around in the world. We need more of the Esther’s, the Andreas, the WHS cross country team who know nothing else but risking it all and throwing themselves into a situation to emerge a victor, and that in itself will let us turn to find a better tomorrow – as well as a better person ourselves. Sometimes the best research starts with ourselves and if we are lucky, allows us to discover so much more of what we are capable of in the world.