Being a Man who grew up going to inner city schools I have to admit that many Teachers like yourself were few and far between. That is not to say that I did not come across some very good Teachers like yourself.

Those teachers impacted my life in very profound ways as they made me see the world not from the perspective that society wants you to see it but to see the real “Truth” behind the curtain.

I know it was hard for you because of the varying of cultures and family traditions that you may have not been accustomed to but still I thank you for even trying to get young poor students to see that education is the key to get out and for me it was the only way out and becoming a responsible Man and Father.

The issue of burning out is something many of us go through. Pushing and pushing the weight feels like you are pushing a boulder uphill! I have gone through an instance like that recently while working for a Corporation. You see I was the local IT Guy and my job was to make sure the system was running correctly. At first I worked hard and helped anyone who came by my desk. Soon though I felt the fire come on and I basically burnt out!

Like you I realized that I could not control or be the only one making an effort while everyone else is standing around with their hands in their pockets. I kept working until I had a blow up with the CIO over some stupid shit that should have not gone down.

I realized it was time for me to leave before it happened again.

Sure enough I did just that. I left my job for a better one and even moved to another state and things have started looking up for me and my family.

Looking back I do not think the reason why you burnt out or why I burnt out has to do with skin color or privileged, but more of taking charge and jumping into an extremely hard situation and trying to solve it by yourself.

Unfortunately I think the reason we fail is because we fail to get others who can be of help involved in the crusade.

I think you saw that and are making changes by getting those who can involved and making a difference in other less advantaged people’s lives.

Another thing about grit.

Sometimes its how we approach and use “Grit” like most poor children we grew up in an atmosphere that requires aggression in order to survive. Unfortunately for many people its hard to turn that aggression off when we are not in our surroundings so we forget that not everyone is the same.

I know for me I had to learn to turn my aggression off and on when I needed to. Or reroute my aggression and turn it into a positive which was how I was able to move up and out of the Ghetto.

Teachers like you were the reason why I realized that my reality can be changed at a very young age and become my own Man.

Keep doing what you are doing and do not feel bad for who you are! I know I’m not! You keep doing what you do and hopefully one day you can come back to the Inner City School system and infect other young students minds!

I hope that you will be able to find your answer soon!