Why Gladness and Hunger?

I started a blog last summer when I went to Washington D.C., "pearls and politics," and I think I found the time for two entries. Reflecting on that experience, it all seems incredibly naive. Not only the blog name, but the purpose behind it as well. As I start my Teach for America journey, I have a new sense of purpose, and therefore I needed a new blog. This is no longer about politics and it is no longer about the infamous pearls that I wear, even when working out. This journey is much different. It is about people, and it is about transformation.

So, what purpose does deep gladness and deep hunger hold? Anyone who knows my friends, knows that we love food. At least eighty percent of our daily discussions happen around what we are eating for our next meal. We discussed out 5:30PM dinner plans at 11:40am, immediately after we finished lunch. Yet, this blog has nothing to do with enjoying a good meal, although it is not a promise that I will stay away from discussing food at some point. The title of this blog comes from a quote that was mentioned in my Leadership and Responsibility class in the Spring of 2012 at DePauw University.

"The place where God calls you is where your deep gladness and the world's deep hunger meet." Frederick Buechner, Wishful Thinking

I quickly scribbled the quote down in my notebook, starred it, highlighted it, and bolded it. I wanted to remember it, because I had finally heard a summary of what I thought my purpose was. I remember sophomore year of high school attending an ELCA National Lutheran Youth Conference in San Antonio, Texas. Although I had been a witness to hunger, poverty, and disparity my entire life, I had never owned the issues. I turned to my youth director and told her, "I'm going to solve world hunger." She smiled at me, but I could tell she was looking at me like I was nuts. Through my years of college I have become less naive. I no longer think that I can solve world hunger on my own, actually I have realized a different kind of hunger; one that I felt growing up in North Kansas City prior to our move across the river to Johnson County, Kansas. Education. This is a hunger that many children do not realize they have, although so many today are starving. The educational inequality that I was a part of in North Kansas City,  that I witnessed in the youth I worked with in Greencastle, Indiana, and that is sweeping this nation is unbelievable. Although the facts are astonishing, it is the ignorance surrounding it that is truly depressing. I believe that my calling, at least at this point in my life, is no longer satisfy the needs of those without food, but to work towards fulfilling the educational needs of those in this country. I believe that the crossroads between my gladness and the world's need for educational equality will create a rocky, beautiful, transformational, purposeful journey and calling. Which is why I have found myself in Memphis, Tennessee, headed to registration for Teach for America in 20 minutes.

As they say in TFA, "Now More Than Ever," it is time to create change.

Now More Than Ever:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zr3Ijg0y6EI

Want to know why I was inspired to apply and accept my offer for Teach for America? Read and listent to these stories.

http://www.teachforamerica.org/now/