Perhaps there is nothing better than a placewithout changing seasonsWhere one can go and always baskin the warmth of the ray of the sunwith the wind sweeping your hair backas you walk along the vast expanse of the ocean I've never grown tired of endless blue--of water and sky that seamlesslyblend together and stretches beyond time itselfIt's… Continue reading “It’s always our self we find in the sea”
Author: odeliay
Where Happiness Abounds
I am a part of all that I have met;Yet all experience is an arch wherethro'Gleams that untravell'd world whose margin fadesFor ever and forever when I move. -Tennyson My second summer in the Bay has come to an end. Tonight I will board a flight to L.A. to spend a week with one of my… Continue reading Where Happiness Abounds
The Mind’s Politics of Leaving
My Life is but a weavingbetween my Lord and me;I cannot choose the colorsHe worketh steadily.Oft times He weaveth sorrowAnd I, in foolish pride,Forget He sees the upper,And I the under side.Not til the loom is silentAnd the shuttles cease to fly,Shall God unroll the canvasAnd explain the reason why.The dark threads are as needfulIn… Continue reading The Mind’s Politics of Leaving
The Beautiful Game
“Soccer isn't the same as Bach or Buddhism. But it is often more deeply felt than religion, and just as much a part of the community's fabric, a repository of traditions.” -Franklin Foer, How Soccer Explains the World: An Unlikely Theory of Globalization
What I Can Say to be True
I have always been a writer, a storyteller. Ever since I can remember I was copying the ways of my mother by writing my being on to pieces of paper. The only thing that has changed with the years is now I type, although I still handwrite things when I can or notes to people… Continue reading What I Can Say to be True
When Reality Finds You
A week ago my close friend Thecla asked me how I was dealing with leaving Miami and the thought of not teaching my students anymore in the fall. My only response to her was that I was honestly dealing by not dealing; that pretending for the moment that this life in California is all that… Continue reading When Reality Finds You
Leavetakings Part Three: On the Brink of the Aftermath
I may look calm, but inside, my emotions are raging like the flash rainfalls of the Miami hurricane season. Today, I had a joyous moment. One that teachers always hope to have. I got to call one of the students who is closest to me and tell him, on his birthday, that he passed his… Continue reading Leavetakings Part Three: On the Brink of the Aftermath
Leavetakings Part Two: I Couldn’t Have Done it Without You
The first of my close friends left Miami this morning. Never again will we walk down the halls of Northwestern together as literacy teachers. Her life is pulling her in very exciting directions, and I could not be more proud. But in some ways more palpable than exiting college, I feel the sadness of the… Continue reading Leavetakings Part Two: I Couldn’t Have Done it Without You
Leavetakings Part One: When Two Years is Enough and Not Enough All At Once
A few weeks ago at our Teach for America Alumni Induction, my peers honored me with the award for Transformational Change. I have mentioned this phrase often in my writings as being a 'catchphrase' but very real and necessary at the same time. And while I know that I have so much growth left to… Continue reading Leavetakings Part One: When Two Years is Enough and Not Enough All At Once
A Different Type of Signing Day
Today I was greeted with the news that anyone planning on not being at Northwestern in the fall would need to give in their letters of resignation. For many reasons, I did not want to have someone bring around a form to me to fill out and sign and I decided to fill one out… Continue reading A Different Type of Signing Day
Odelia Younge 