The Book: The Educational Pledge

This past month, I finished reading The Educational Pledge. Thank you for writing and publishing this inspirational text. In my own spiritual journey, I have come to understand, through great struggle and pain, what the pledge promotes precociously on the page.

As a lifelong educator and professional historian, I have learned some of these lessons through the bumps and bruises of experience. So many risks I take go well, but, if I am being honest, then I must admit that many have gone terribly wrong.

For example, I risked life and limb in the use and sale of drugs, especially as a New York City youth. As an adult, I have died from overdoses, more than once! Your workbook The Educational Pledge has helped me deepen my perspective on my dark dealings with drugs. While rejecting drugs wholeheartedly (as they should be), the workbook also encourages reflection on risk-taking. In my life, selling drugs provided invaluable insights into how to be an entrepreneur. When I was in active addiction, I explored and expanded my artistry in writing and photography. I learned how to sustain prolific productivity in spite of deadly drug abuse. These risks rewarded me some. 

I would encourage prospective readers – those young on their journey to self-love and joy – to read and apply the “Educational Pledge” preferably before they take any dangerous risks. They do not have to jeopardize their lives, like I did, to reap the rewards of risk, certainly not when The Educational Pledge warns against some life-threatening forces like drugs, apathy, and complicity. Like you, I believe our responsibility as educators is to share the wisdom gleaned from hard times so students of life can have a more joy on their journeys…