Person of the Week

So, I been slacking a little with regards to this one blog feature. Usually I announce a person of the week at the top of every week, but things have been crazy. School is in full swing, my services were in high demand at the school where I work (those little kids can put a hurting on you), I've been conducting interviews for the radio station, and I started volunteering at yet another one of my alma maters. I only have three and it feels like more, but I try and give back to each of them. "To whom much is given, much is expected, much is required."

Going down to St. Ignatius this morning was a very funny experience. I saw an old English teacher, the school counselor, and saw some of the new breed of prospective students who are about to begin making their transition from boys to men. I was really having flashbacks this morning. I mean looking at the pictures of all the students on the walls, seeing myself with these big puffy puffy puffy cheeks. It was too much. Then proctoring placement exams for the kids who will give up their next 12 Saturday's getting lessons in language arts and in a math, hoping for a shot at giving up part of their summer, and praying for a shot at less than thirty slots at the middle school that may very well change their lives. It was a bit surreal, but again another reason for me to reflect and try and gain some perspective.

The Director of the Higher Achievement Program, which is what the Saturday enrichment program is called and I were getting to know each other. She asked me what I aspired to do once I was done with college. From the age 8 or 9 until about age 17 I wanted to go to law school, become a lawyer, and become a judge. Hoping to one day be appointed a federal judge, at the time all I knew was that if I became a federal judge, I'd have a job until I died. I said to myself get that job, and you'll be set. I didn't understand the complex politics of obtaining a federal judegship just yet. When I was 17 I interned at a local TV station, and that got the wheels a turning once again. Then I told everyone who would listen I would be a television news reporter, and that one day I would become a television news anchor. Most people said, I could see you as a lawyer, I could see you as a judge, I could see you on TV. And then there were those who asked why I just didn't become a teacher, because I am the only kid who would visit my old teachers, my old friends, my old schools on my day off. So this morning the question came up again.

What do you want to become:
A lawyer and a broadcast journalist

Then I thought to myself you go to law school, get your Juris Doctorate, and without even taking the bar exam, you are a lawyer. You go to school get a degree and start teaching you're a teacher. You go to school, get a degree, get a job, you're not guaranteed that on air position. These days aspiring for a spot on the local news, the evening news, or cable news, is close to having hoop dreams. But then I read his story and decided I'd rather continue to work towards my dreams, than to stop dreaming:

"Anchor Makes Move"
Scott Maxwell
Orlando Sentinel
After anchoring the weekend news on WKMG-Channel 6 for more than five years, Gerald Reznick has decided to leave the anchor desk -- because he can no longer see well while sitting there.Reznick said this week that he has been diagnosed with Stargardt's disease, a form of macular degeneration, which left him struggling to read scripts under brightlights that aggravate his condition. In recent weeks, he resorted to trying to memorize hislines. But after finding that difficult, even struggling on air a few times, he decided: "I need to retain some dignity."

Reznick, 37, is not leaving the station. Instead, he has decided to take a weekday reporting job -- a move that news director Skip Valet described in a staff memo as a "courageous decision." What started more than a year ago as a small fuzzy spot in Reznick's left eye continued to worsen."For me, it's been dramatic," he said. "Not only thea bility to read, but not being able to recognize people's faces."As Reznick understands it, the chances are very good that he will ultimately go blind, at least legally so.But he is determined to continue working, even if itmeans learning new reporting techniques, vowing, "Iwill find a way."

Gerald Reznick is this week's person of the week.

And rememeber:
"NOTHING COMES TO A DREAMER BUT A DREAM"

So don't just dream, do.