“He has one more semester, and if he receives a failing grade in any class it will be his last semester at this institution.” This is the verdict we received from the Dean of Academics at my high school. After an hour long meeting fighting an uphill battle. And believe it or not, we took it as a victory. Now, if my dear reader would indulge me, let me rewind and recount the story of the most extraordinary young man I know.
He came to me his sophomore year. Not the hardest working student, and not blessed with extraordinary intelligence, at least not the form that our tests, quizzes, and school systems seek out and foster in their students. In all likelihood, if he had gone down a different path in life he would have failed out of school, and probably never have attended college. But this is not what life had in store for him. Life held much better for this boy … his name is Joshua.
The story begins with Justin, the captain of the speech and debate team Josh's sophomore year. Justin was looking for a duo partner, a person who could play the role of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., and Josh fit the bill, with one minor problem. When Josh first practiced in front of me he could not even stand in the front of the room, where I was the only audience member, to give his speech. He needed to sit in one of the desks, and could not even look at me, as he read his speech off of his script. He was so nervous his whole presentation was littered with stumbles, and at times I could not even hear him he was talking so quietly.
But he persisted. He came back to practice after practice. And as he did, he grew in ability and confidence, until eventually he and his duo partner, Justin, were at the top of the game locally, winning every tournament. More over they reached significant success breaking to octa-finals at a national circuit tournament. But despite his prowess in the Speech and Debate world, Josh still struggled academically, more then once letting his grades slip to the point of being ineligible to compete, and leaving his partner high and dry without him for competitions.
Fast-forward to the end of his sophomore year, Josh's academic record is such that the school wants to kick him out. But the coach and I argue ferociously, saying that he is too gifted of a boy to let him slip through the cracks. And after a hard fought battle the school finally agrees to let him stay for his junior year, if he keeps his grades up, but if any of his grades slip below failing, he is out, no second chances.
Well his junior year, my senior year, I am now captain of the speech team, and Josh and I are duo partners. And I will not let this boy slip through the cracks. So we come in every morning when the building opens at 6:00 am, and I tutor him for two hours until school starts at 8:00 am, and in this way we keep him eligible. And he only grows, reaching great success in the world of Speech and Debate winning every event we enter him in locally, and he even breaks to quarter finals, at Nationals!
Because of his success at Nationals, he is invited to attend Bradly University's Speech and Debate camp over the summer, the best speech camp in the country. Come this school year he has reached so much success. At Yale, a national circuit competition, he broke to finals and placed second in two separate events, competing against people from all across the country.
Then at George Mason, another national circuit competition, he broke to finals in three separate events, placing second in two of them, and first in another, ranking second place in over all individual sweepstakes! And more then just that, George Mason University tends to be the foreshadow of Nationals. If a person does well at George Mason, then generally they will do well at Nationals.
Josh is currently ranked second in the Nation in Program Oral Interpretation, one of the events he does. And to top it all off, Josh has been admitted to Western Kentucky University, known for their college level Speech and Debate team. The Bradley University coach is flying him out to Illinois for an interview, and a recital. And the George Mason University Speech and debate coach is putting pressure on the admission board to let him.
This is the power of words. Josh may not be quick at French, he may be slow to grasp the concepts of moles and Boyle's Law, parabolas may go way over his head; but he is a gifted orator. This boy has been blessed with the gift of speech, with the gift of words. And because of words, because he was given the ability to foster his talents, he is now able to go to college.
And moreover he has a pick of several impressive colleges. I have no doubt that Josh will change the world one day. And to think that he might have slipped through the cracks, that he might not even have graduated high school, that he might, right now, have been living a life so much under his full potential. How many others were not given a chance to have a success story? How many others who might have changed the world have fallen through the cracks because they were not good enough at what is measured in school?
How flawed is our system of measuring the worth of a person if someone with so much talent can fail out? Josh is going to college because he had people to fight for him. But the sad reality is, not everyone has someone to fight for them. For many years of his life Josh thought he was stupid, but he is not stupid. Our education system simply does not measure his form of intelligence.
Two weeks ago he stayed up until 3:00 am compiling a poetry piece for someone from Tennessee. That student went on to win the competition with the piece Josh put together. This last Friday night Josh wrote an original oratory, the next morning he memorized it on the bus ride to the competition, and came in first with it that day. How can anyone say this boy is stupid? He just has a different form of intelligence, and we as a society ought to do a better job promoting such talents. It is a tragedy that such a person should grow up believing they are stupid and worthless. There has to be a better way to educate our children. We are letting to many like Josh slip by, not even realizing their own potential. This needs to stop, now.
