Creating the Next Generation of Leaders

At my Harvard graduation in 2015, President Drew Gilpin Faust noted in her address, “the world is only temporarily ours… we are stewards entrusted with the past and responsible to the future. We are larger than ourselves.” Her words resonated with me because I saw how they applied to the work I was about to take on as a teacher. In the classroom, I feel my responsibility to the future every day.

But over the past few weeks, I have come to see how President Faust’s words also apply to this presidential election. When Harvard students line up outside Quincy House to vote on Election Day, some of them for the first time, they will have the chance to act beyond themselves.

I wanted to act beyond myself after graduation, which is why I decided to become a teacher. As a senior at Harvard, I got to work with students from all over the world through Harvard’s Model United Nations. While hosting an international conference in Lima, Peru with more than 350 students from around the world, I began to think about how different educational opportunities look from country to country. Knowing the disparities that exist in education here at home affirmed my interest in a career in education. At the same time, my coursework in History and Literature taught me that our country was built on inequalities that still prevent many of our nation’s children from attaining the education they deserve. I realized if I was going to be a part of shaping our nation’s policies, I first needed to understand the issues up-close. I joined Teach For America for the chance to make an immediate impact in a classroom in my hometown of Buffalo.

Now that I’m a teacher, I realize that the future of our country lies squarely in my classroom—and classrooms like mine around the country. Every day that I teach, I grow more convinced of my students’ boundless potential and am eager for the day when they’re charting the path of our country. Seeing someone who looks like them in the White House has given my students, many of whom are African-American, the confidence and proof that their identities and their dreams matter. And time and time again, even my most struggling students have proven themselves capable of achieving greatness. It’s these moments that turn my previous hope into my current conviction.

But as we draw closer to Election Day, I worry for my students. When a first-grade student asked me last October, “Wait, Barack Obama won’t be president forever?” I realized that many of my students have spent their entire lives with their identities represented in the White House.

I can see the current toxic national dialogue weighs heavily on their bright young minds. I didn’t realize how greatly it affected them until one student asked if it was really true that she could be kicked out the country for her beliefs or her identity. She looked at me, terrified, and asked if I would move with her and her classmates so I could continue teaching them.

It matters who our leaders are and it matters what they say. Many of my students view President Obama as the ultimate role model and they expect another one to take his place in the White House in January. Our politicians inspire children and set powerful examples of morality and leadership. When children see bullying among candidates at all levels of the ballot, they receive implicit permission to repeat that behavior and bully one another. When politicians and pundits denigrate the identities of our children because of their race, beliefs, or gender, children feel invalidated and question their place in our nation. By contrast, when children see themselves represented by politicians, they believe their own dreams are possible. When they hear political leaders speak kindly towards and about others, they do the same. So when we vote, we must keep in mind how our leaders will influence the next generation. We must use our votes to act beyond ourselves.

This November, we can ensure our country’s moral arc continues bending towards justice for all. We must empower our children to become the next generation of leaders. We can do this by showing our students real-world examples of leaders who look and sound like them—thanks, Obama.

So as you head into your polling place, and as you consider how you will make your impact after graduation, act with your responsibility to the future in mind. Don’t just be a leader; let’s create the next generation of leaders. We are larger than ourselves.

Madeline C. Connors ‘15 is a math intervention teacher at Westminster Community Charter School in Buffalo, New York. She is a 2015 Teach For America-Buffalo corps member.