Teaching Hope: Empowerment

With part 142 I really enjoyed the travel aspect where the students, confident in their ability in soccer in Miami move on to South Korea where they are met with the whole world for the first time. The students first see the greater context of the world through Soccer, they realize that they are a smaller part of a much larger organism, and this realization shakes their confidence at first. Eventually the student’s take ownership of their abilities and perform considerably well in their tournament, though they come just short of winning. The students all come back from the experience with a profound impact on their lives, and I really connected with the personal growth that came with having their own confidences shaken, but then reaffirmed.

Part 147 sounds essentially like every Hollywood-esque cheese dripping movie detailing the struggle and success of a disadvantaged student in school. First Pablo does poorly in school, he does not connect with his teachers or the material, but eventually he finds his teacher who believes in him and he transforms his life, not to discredit his own transformation which is considerably inspiring. Pablo takes an active role in the school and in class and distances himself from his old gang affiliated friends to the point where he eventually graduates. What made this section so powerful was the story of Frankie, which is sprinkled throughout the section, who provides a completely divergent story than Pablo’s, which serves to illustrate what a profound impact having  an exceptional teacher can have a students.