by Duane Gundrum

Created on: December 08, 2008

I grew up in a family with a mother who had only a seventh grade education. My father split the first chance he could get, which left this poor woman with few options but to work at crummy jobs just so she could provide for a son and daughter. She was too proud to take government assistance, and to be honest, she didn't know how to qualify for it in the first place. So, she worked long hours each day of the week and provided what little sustenance she could for her two kids and herself. There were many times when she went without. There were many times when her kids went without. I can remember many times when the only thing in the kitchen cupboards were cockroaches. I can remember being told to be seriously quiet because that person at the door just might be the landlord asking for rent, and we had to hold out a few more days before her third job would be able to pay her. Yet, she persevered and kept telling me throughout my childhood that if I was going to change this cycle of my life, I was going to have to get an education. She told me that so many times, that I can vividly remember her telling me this on numerous ocassions.

During this time, I happened to be very lucky in that a teacher from my school latched onto me, seeing someone who was trying hard, even though I was surrounded by gangs, hookers and poverty. She went out of her way to make sure that I didn't just stop studying, which at one point almost happened as it was a lot easier to ditch school with friends and get in trouble than it was to do the actual work.

Fast forward a few decades, and you have two kids who grew up to be a nurse and a college professor. My sister succeeded first, as she was older, and she has done quite well for herself. I went to the United States Military Academy at West Point, and then later on went on to complete several master's degrees and then my Ph.D. in political science. Throughout this entire time, I kept remembering my mother tell me that without an education, my life would probably be just like the one that she was living with us while we were growing up.

When I first started teaching, I found myself constantly butting heads with other college professors because there is this belief that sometimes some students are a waste of time, that it is better to focus on the "ones that want to learn" rather than waste effort on everyone. I constantly disagreed with this and then I came across a young college student while I was teaching at a community college. The class

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