Dream Big

Last night, Lupita Nyong’o won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress for her role as Patsey, in 12 Years a Slave. In her speech, which was filled with such joy and gratitude, she reminded the audience both at the event and across the world, to dream big, and do what may seem impossible. It is this energy that I try to take into my classroom at each session, this notion that anything is possible, no matter where you grew up, what your circumstances are or were, or what you have been told by others. 

For the most part, the students Jumpstart serves are extremely disadvantaged, living in high-poverty neighborhoods, surrounded by violence, and often forgotten by the people who live within the same district lines. For those of us who do notice, and who choose to support them, the response we get from others is often a superficial “Oh wow, you’re such a good person!” While that may be true, that label, whatever it means, is so far down the list of reasons why I want to serve, that it might as well not be there at all. I rarely get the chance to tell those people the real reasons I serve, so I will lay out three of them here:

1.     I serve because these children have seen more in their short lives than I may ever see in mine, and because, if nothing else, I can provide a break from that to sit down with a book in reading, to paint a picture in art, or to play a game of make believe in dramatic play, and remind them that they are loved and appreciated.

2.     I serve because even in a school that values each student, I know that some children slip through the cracks. Being there to spot those students, and to work with them so they learn that they are smart, hard working, and capable of succeeding in school may one day make all the difference in their life paths.

3.      I serve, because in the words of Lupita Nyong’o, “No matter where you’re from, your dreams are valid.”

Our students have big goals and dreams. By serving with Jumpstart, by showing up in class twice a week and bringing the energy Lupita Nyong’o did to her performance and acceptance speech, I know that I am telling the students “Yes you can” to all of their dreams.

~ Becca Goldstein

Corps Member

Team Joy