This poem appeared in today's search results for something else on my laptop. And I'm almost instantly holding back tears. There's a lot I'd forgotten about where I'm from until I wrote this poem years ago, and a lot I'd forgotten about the writing of the poem until I re-read it this afternoon.
I wrote my version of "Where I'm From" while supervising a student teacher on May 24, 2021. The student teacher was a capable yet often contentious and misunderstood teaching candidate, and I was struck by the depth and sincerity of their "Where I'm from" lesson. They invited me to write my own along with their students... and soon my fingers uncovered the threaded words above, and eventually I buried them again inside a forgotten folder.
I'd previously taught my own lesson based on this poem as an English Language Arts teacher several years before, but this candidate's lesson was taking place in a P.E. class... in a Title I school... and via Zoom... during a still-traumatic time in the Covid-19 pandemic. Before this day, I'd known that we were both dedicated to being authentic and culturally responsive with our students, but our approaches often differed wildly. I certainly never imagined that I'd find such personal revelation as I did with this lesson.
I remember that it took months for this candidate to begin believing I truly appreciated who they are a person and what they bring to the classroom, that I wasn't just like the many people they'd felt doubted by or burned by before. And I remember feeling extremely vulnerable when I decided to start this poem as part of their lesson even though I was safely hidden away in my home office behind a video screen. It illuminated to me how vulnerable that candidate must feel, and how vulnerable their students must feel, every single day. Wondering if they can really trust the people around them. Fearing or maybe even resenting the way they're expected to show up in the world. But bravely showing up anyway, often defending themselves, and each other, against a world that makes quick assumptions about where they're from or who they are.
As I re-read this poem today, I realized that I've been slowly uncovering my own fear and resentment for a long time. I know I've always been able to show up for others, and I realized that I'm finally starting to show up for myself as well. It's a different form of bravery than what I experienced where I'm from, but it is exactly how I want to live where I'm going.
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