Marva Collins' Way

The greatest gift you can give someone is unconditional love and the best lesson a teacher can give their students is the belief that they can achieve anything they set their mind to. Marva Collins was one such person who gave these gifts to her students. She is one of my inspirations. She was an amazing teacher and a beautiful human being who dedicated her life to inspiring others. She was someone who helped shaped the lives of so many people, so I'd like to share her story.

Marva was raised to have strong values like dignity and integrity. She had a strong demeanor and unshakable integrity. Her determination was immovable. She was her own Sasha Fierce.

She knew that there was something very wrong with the American public school system, but didn't know what she could do about it. Many of the teachers didn't really care about what the students were doing at all so long as they had a job. These teachers didn't truly believe in and support the children who were struggling. This was especially the case of young African-American children from low-income families. These children were often looked upon as dumb, bound for a life of crime, and unable to shine as brightly as they could. In other words, they were written off as fodder for the other, more privilege students to surpass while they were left in the clearance bin. They were labelled as learning disabled. Marva disagreed. Rather, she believed that there are no bad students. She thought that if the student had failed, it was also the teacher that had failed. The school system had failed, and teachers who taught children that they are failures were creating a self-fulfilling prophecy for them.

Since no one in the public school system was truly addressing the problem, she took things into her own hands. It was a struggle acquiring the funds, but she eventually started running her own school: Westside Preparatory School. Located in the middle of the ghetto, it was here that she was able to influence of the lives of so many children who would have otherwise gone off to live a life of crime, minimum wages, and oppression.

What made her so special? She cared. She once said, "You can pay people to teach, but you can't pay them to care." She cared and she refused to let her students give up on themselves. One of the first thing she ever said to her students was, " none of you has ever failed. Goodbye to failure, children. Welcome to success." She told her students that they would be challenged. They would learn and they shouldn't settle for less. Given the background of her students, many of them lacked confidence, so she believed in giving praise to encourage them to learn. Whether it was greeting them with a compliment about anything (their shirt, a joke they told, etc.) or telling them that they're smart. She wanted her children to feel loved and respected, and they returned her compassion with an earnest effort to learn. Lastly, she motivated the students by making them enjoy learning. She made them enjoy the challenge of a new book. A new lesson in life. Instead of depending on others to solve their problems, she taught them that they should take over the reigns of their lives and chart their own course.

The results were astounding. She had grade schoolers reading the likes of Shakespeare, The Alchemist, and Dante's Divine Comedy. Their test scores were well above the standard of other students the same age. Their success was only possible because she kept reminding her students that they were capable of learning. That they weren't hopeless. That they were worthy of being loved.

If there is anything to take from her story, it's this: you are more than capable. You can do anything you truly set your mind to. You just have to believe, pour your heart into whatever you do, and never give up no matter how hard the struggle. She taught these values to her students and they went on to succeed. Never doubt yourself. Instead, strive to always improve and you can move the world.

                                                                                                                 Peace

Where will you go to find success?