Latest / Be A Global Citizen! / 185. HGSE Global Citizen: Cristi Marchetti: Saying Yes to the Things that Matter

Transcript

185. HGSE Global Citizen: Cristi Marchetti: Saying Yes to the Things that Matter · Be A Global Citizen!

0:04
Hi there, and welcome to Be a Global Citizen, the podcast that
0:08
explores the concept of global citizenship through the lens of
0:11
value creating education. My name is Scott Bauer and I'm a
0:15
SOCO researcher and educator. I hope you find the discussions,
0:18
stories, and insights on this podcast to being valuable and
0:22
inspiring as we strive to become global citizens who are
0:25
committed to living a contributive life.
0:27
Enjoy the conversation. Good morning, Scott, nice to see
0:39
you. I am Christy Marchetti and I am
0:42
calling in from Albany, NY I am in my second year of a Harvard
0:48
Educational Leadership program, and you were in the cohort ahead
0:53
of me, which is how I came to know you.
0:56
Hi, Christy, thank you so much. I'm so happy that we're able to
1:00
connect across cohorts, right, because, you know, being that it
1:05
was an online program or it is an online program, we don't have
1:10
the same kind of opportunities that like a residential program
1:13
affords. But nonetheless, it's it's
1:15
incredible how this network, this ecosystem of incredible
1:20
educators from coast to coast, right?
1:22
You in New York, me and California, and then many, many
1:27
in, you know, different parts of the world, like different
1:30
countries. It's just, yeah, it's, it's
1:33
incredible to hold space together with you.
1:35
And I'm very happy that we have this opportunity to like
1:39
spotlight your experiences of what led you to a place like
1:42
Harvard in the 1st place. So so thank you, Christy.
1:46
And I wanted to ask you the first really it's really broad
1:50
question, but basically like what, what led you to the work
1:54
that you're doing or what, what, what are the passions that you
1:58
have in terms of, you know, education and why education?
2:03
Why now? So could you share with us some
2:05
of the milestones that you know made you who you are as an
2:10
educator? Sure.
2:12
So my undergraduate degree is in cultural anthropology.
2:17
And what I found was that while I was doing my undergraduate
2:20
work, I was volunteering at United Cerebral Palsy and loved
2:24
it, absolutely loved it. They needed a teacher.
2:27
They had somebody I think out on maternity leave.
2:29
So I worked there for a year after college, about a year, and
2:33
then I took a job as a publicity assistant doing independent
2:36
trade book publicity. So after about a year and a half
2:41
of that, I set up shop on my own and have my own business for
2:45
quite a number of years, But really felt like all of the
2:49
things I was doing outside of that work was volunteering with
2:52
kids. So I was doing therapeutic
2:54
horseback riding or volunteering, doing tutoring.
2:58
And I thought, OK, there's something there, I have to just
3:01
finally accept it. So I went and got my graduate
3:05
degree in secondary English education and had a job for 16
3:10
years in rural Pennsylvania. And I loved it.
3:14
I loved being part of the community.
3:16
I loved that when I rode my horse down the road, all my
3:18
students drove by and I would see them all in the grocery
3:22
store. And it's interesting because
3:24
it's this contrast of an incredibly tight knit local
3:29
community, but I still yearned for that global part of it.
3:35
So we had a terrible problem with opioids in that community.
3:40
And I started looking around the world saying, well, what are
3:42
other places doing about this? And I mean, it was much more in
3:51
depth than this, all of the research that I was doing.
3:53
But one of the things I kept coming back to was Belfast,
3:56
Northern Ireland, and the work that Northern Ireland had done
3:59
after the Troubles. So I thought I need to go there.
4:03
And that was how I ended up finding the Fulbright
4:07
Distinguished Award in Teaching Research program, which I
4:11
applied for. I didn't get it the first time
4:14
that I applied. I was wait listed.
4:17
And it was hilarious because my students were all with me
4:21
through the whole process because I think it's important
4:24
to model that for kids. And they were like, who do we
4:27
need to take out? And I was like, no, no, like
4:29
this is this is one of those things where we're just happy
4:32
for people. And I was like, maybe you could
4:35
hope for somebody to get pregnant and not want to travel
4:38
like, because then that's a blessing too.
4:40
But I was like, no, no, we're happy for whoever gets it.
4:44
And then I ended up getting it the following year, which I in
4:47
the end I think is so great because kids, I was able to say
4:50
to kids, let me model for you what resilience is.
4:54
This is what it looks like. So I went to Belfast, Northern
4:59
Ireland, was able to get into schools all over the UK.
5:02
The EUI went up to Finland for a little bit and was able to get
5:07
into schools there and created a toolkit about community use of
5:11
schools. So I brought that back to
5:15
Pennsylvania and then thought, OK, like that's it.
5:19
There's nothing really else for me to do here because I don't
5:22
want to be an administrator. And that's the pathway in
5:26
education. If you want to go bigger, it's
5:29
administration. I was like, no, I want to work
5:31
with the kids. That's the part that I like.
5:34
So I moved to New York and took a job at an independent college
5:38
prep school and worked there for six years and got laid off
5:44
because they had been single sex and they went Coed.
5:46
So they got rid of half of their faculty and staff because we
5:50
were all redundant. It was great timing.
5:53
My child was getting ready to go off to a different school.
5:56
So it was fine. And I was able to say to my
6:00
students, I am going to model resilience for you.
6:03
I am going to walk you through every single piece of what this
6:07
kind of a transition is like because either you'll get laid
6:10
off or someone you love will get off laid off, or you will have
6:15
to lay someone off. And it was.
6:18
I couldn't imagine a better end to a job of such love and
6:26
support. So then I took a job at a dual
6:31
enrollment high school based on a Community College campus and
6:36
got laid off again. Again, half the staff was laid
6:39
off and I am currently unemployed.
6:44
And so I think it's really important, again, especially
6:48
with students, to say this is reality.
6:51
So a year ago I started the Harvard program because again, I
6:55
was looking around the world saying, how do I do the next
6:58
step? How do I have a bigger impact,
7:01
positive impact on young people to help them become whatever it
7:06
is that they want to become. And so that is a much longer
7:10
version of what you probably wanted, but that is how I came
7:15
to the Harvard program and sort of how global citizenship ended
7:19
up getting mixed in there. Wow, thank you so much, Christy,
7:25
for sharing that response. It was not longer than it needed
7:28
to be. It's exactly the right amounts.
7:30
And I appreciate you for, for sharing that with, with such
7:33
vulnerability because, you know, you are yet again modeling what
7:37
it is like to, to kind of share this, this glimpse into your,
7:41
your current reality. But also knowing that it's, you
7:44
know, while many people might think getting laid off is, you
7:49
know, like the end all like, kind of like pushing you down,
7:53
it's actually you, you, you can still have hope and you can
7:58
actually use that as a catalyst towards where you really should
8:01
be, right, where you will make the biggest impact.
8:05
And wholeheartedly believing that in the face of maybe a lot
8:09
of other people going through hardships, you know, because
8:12
they also were laid off. I find that it's so important
8:16
for individuals like yourself, right?
8:18
To be that kind of like light where you show like, hey, it
8:21
doesn't have to be doom and gloom.
8:23
It doesn't have to be this way. Yeah, it's, it's difficult.
8:27
Yes. It'll be heavy.
8:28
It might have you doubt yourself, right?
8:31
We've been there. But to not sit in that, you
8:35
know, and allow it to kind of overtake you or fester, all of
8:38
that. But you're pushing through and,
8:41
and I think there's like incredible courage in that
8:45
you're saying. All of the things, all of the
8:47
things that I think all of us who've been laid off have felt
8:51
well. And it's also an interesting
8:53
time, right? I know I'm not alone.
8:55
All of the people from USAID, the State Department, the
8:59
Department of Education people, I mean, I know a lot of teachers
9:03
getting laid off. So I know that I'm not alone
9:07
and, and I do think it's really important to be open and honest
9:12
about it because it's such an excellent time for self
9:14
reflection. What is really important for
9:17
like what all of the things that you were just saying and that
9:21
growth moment of I very much identify with work.
9:27
I love work. I have always loved work.
9:30
I remember turning 14 and getting my working papers and
9:32
being so incredibly excited about that.
9:35
And so to be a person who is not currently working I thought
9:41
would sort of damage my psyche a little bit, but it hasn't.
9:46
I also thought that as all of my friends and colleagues are
9:49
heading back for their school year, I would be devastated.
9:53
I'm not. I'm happy for them, I'm
9:56
incredibly happy for them, but it hasn't ended up changing my
10:00
sense of self, which I was shocked by.
10:04
I truly thought that I was going to be devastated.
10:09
It was also a little bit of facing that idea of self worth.
10:16
What am I worth? Do I take a job I'm offered when
10:22
it's not really where I should be in terms of finances or
10:28
responsibilities or potential for growth?
10:33
And so I had to sort of reconcile this idea of do I take
10:37
take something just because it's being offered or do I bet on
10:42
myself? Do I say, actually, I think I'm
10:47
going to end up being worth more and I will be scrappy and figure
10:52
things out until then. And I chose scrappiness.
10:57
So I'm, I mean, luckily I've, I've never gone on unemployment
11:00
before. So I navigated how do I go on,
11:03
on unemployment? How do I do the Affordable Care
11:05
Act for my health insurance? And I am so incredibly thankful
11:11
for those supports because I recognize without those
11:16
supports, I would be stymieing my future.
11:24
I wouldn't be able to have the moment to create a better
11:28
opportunity for myself in work because I'd have to just take
11:32
something that comes along. And like you, I see myself as a
11:36
conduit, right? Like, it's not really about me.
11:39
It's about how do I have a positive impact on as many
11:42
people as possible. So in stymieing my ability to do
11:46
that, it's stymieing the ability to make kids lives better.
11:52
Yeah. And you know, and I think that
11:54
in this process, right, staying true to yourself, recognizing
11:57
yourself worth, you know, being resilient through those
12:02
hardships, modeling that for others, right?
12:06
You're kind of like, you know, showing that you're not being
12:09
swayed by an environment that is always going to be in flux.
12:13
It's always going to be changing, unpredictable things
12:16
you can't foresee happen. And, and, and when it does
12:21
happen, how are you able to kind of maintain that integrity of
12:24
character that like this is the impact that I'm making and part
12:29
of, you know, where you're at right now.
12:30
You said that you, you are very pleasantly surprised that
12:36
you're, you know, in terms of like your attachment to work,
12:38
that you're able to still like experience great joy for
12:42
everyone else around you who do have jobs.
12:45
But then also you're doing the work of introspection and really
12:48
recognizing, whoa, like, wait up this, this actually might be a
12:52
very important chunk of time for me to figure something out.
12:55
I find that a lot of people and, and I think this was like
12:59
initially like the with the wave of like the pandemic, everyone
13:02
going to lock down, a lot of self reflection happening or,
13:06
you know, now with like different like industries.
13:09
I know like, you know, tech, small businesses, education,
13:12
right? So many different, you know,
13:15
industries are being affected and are forcing people to, you
13:20
know, do this in introspection. We're not forcing, but now it's
13:23
giving them the opportunity. My question is how like, what
13:27
would you say is like your process of really like actually
13:29
leaning into that And the kind of practical like this is what
13:32
you do because it's very easy for people to get laid off.
13:35
And then they're just going to go on their phone.
13:37
They're going to distract themselves, They're going to
13:39
numb themselves. They're going to do everything
13:41
but the introspection because, you know, our thoughts can be
13:44
very loud. And sometimes that the truth of
13:48
that is actually not what they're wanting to see, or
13:51
they're they're unwilling to see.
13:53
So you say it with such grace, but I know it takes work.
13:57
So can you unpack that a little bit more?
13:58
Sure. Part of it is that I'm a Virgo,
14:02
so I mean, that takes care of a lot of it for me.
14:06
But a bigger part is I have a spreadsheet that I had created
14:09
for job tracking and you can imagine what a Virgo creates,
14:14
right? Like I like to think it is a
14:17
thing of beauty. And so I also on my spreadsheet
14:23
had created a dashboard so we can see all of my stats and
14:30
what's happening and look for patterns of are there certain
14:36
industries where I'm applying where they're just not
14:39
interested or like what are what are sort of the, the through
14:43
lines and all of that. So part of it is I try not to
14:50
let two days go by without applying for a job or thinking
14:54
seriously about applying for a job.
14:58
I also did an experiment. I was taking an evidence class.
15:01
And so one of the things that I did was I said, OK, so here,
15:04
here are a couple of jobs that I'm like, not really interested.
15:07
So what I'm going to do is like, all things being equal, I'm
15:12
going to apply for this one using a cover letter.
15:14
I right and a this one using a cover letter AI rights and I was
15:20
like, let's see what happens the human versus AI wins.
15:25
Like my cover letters and resumes were the ones that were
15:30
actually getting better results. So I did that for a couple of
15:35
weeks sort of checking that out. So that's part of it is if we
15:42
have something that becomes routine and where we're sort of
15:47
doing interesting things with our data, like if I were to just
15:51
have a folder with all of my like cover letters and resumes,
15:54
I would have no sense. But because I'm housing it all
15:59
in a spreadsheet, it then makes me question what am I missing
16:08
that is not getting me the calls from these types of jobs?
16:13
Do I need to do an internship in order to get to that next level?
16:18
And if I think that that will work, is that what I really want
16:21
to do? So for example, I have applied
16:24
for some internships, but I didn't apply to others because I
16:28
thought that's not really the direction that I want to end up
16:31
going. It's very easy, as you said, to
16:38
like pick up the phone or avoid introspection.
16:48
I would say I lean on my friends a lot because they know what's
16:56
important to me. And so my friends have been some
16:59
of the ones who like I was offered this one job and I was
17:04
really excited about it and I talked to professors about it, I
17:07
talked to career services about it, I talked to friends about
17:09
it. Every single person was like,
17:10
this is the job that you're excited about because it was
17:15
going to be a 12 month job versus A10 month job.
17:18
I was like, oh, actually it's $20,000 less than what I
17:21
expected because of those two months.
17:26
So that's actually less money than what I was making before.
17:30
And I had to really talk with friends, and they were the ones
17:35
who said you need to invest in yourself.
17:41
So I would say this to sort of sum it all up, avoid the
17:49
scrolling, right? Avoid all of the scrolling and
17:52
those habits that we developed to not do what we're supposed to
17:57
do by creating some sort of a system, creating a routine of
18:02
expectation for yourself and holding yourself accountable and
18:06
lean on friends to help keep you accountable.
18:09
Asking those questions, what have you applied for?
18:11
What are you interested in? And all of those things sort of
18:14
help keep all of that on track. I also am really lucky.
18:18
I'm in the Harvard program, right?
18:19
Like there is so much that I'm just doing every day that I
18:24
don't have. I don't have just downtime or or
18:30
dead hours. And I also I picked up some
18:32
college counseling, I picked up some tutoring.
18:34
So that's my advice. That was way too long.
18:40
Sorry about that, Scott. No, no, no, you're good.
18:43
Thank you so much. I mean, it's very clear that you
18:45
know, being like self starter, very active, coming up with a
18:50
plan right through that spreadsheet.
18:53
This is this is really important to kind of people to see
18:58
patterns emerge, but there's only so much that we can see
19:02
from from our own two eyes. Having a friend network to hold
19:07
you accountable to like, yeah. I mean, you know, they'll
19:10
probably look at, you know, the, the, the fact that there's a pay
19:13
cut or there's a lack of, you know, investment back into
19:16
yourself where they can very confidently say, yeah, I don't
19:20
that that might not work, you know, and, and then for you to
19:23
then trust in that friend and be like, you know what, you're
19:27
right. Actually, I might have to
19:29
reconsider this. All that work that you put into
19:31
it is not for, you know, like nothing.
19:34
It's it's, but it's it's to inform you that like wow, that
19:38
that actually is a deal breaker Now you know, and then you add
19:41
that to the list and then continue on so.
19:44
I really appreciate that. A friend had also made the point
19:49
I was like, well, I think I would really like this job.
19:50
And she was like, you like everything.
19:53
She was like, you really are a human golden retriever.
19:55
Like you like everything. So of course, like you'll go to
19:58
any job and you'll love that job.
20:00
So like, take that out of it because another job that you'll
20:03
like will be there. And I thought that that was
20:07
really astute that I wouldn't have necessarily picked up on
20:09
myself because I was so excited about the job that.
20:13
I. I wasn't able to sort of see
20:15
that bigger picture. So then yeah, in some ways that
20:18
actually kind of brings me to the next question I wanted to
20:20
ask you because you know, with, I don't know if it's a
20:23
personality type or, or it's a Virgo thing or I don't know what
20:28
it is of like liking, you know, everything and being excited to
20:31
jump into the next thing. But that can, you know, lead you
20:35
down multitude of paths, right? Or lead you in down a path that
20:40
then gets you excited about another path, which gets, you
20:42
know, branching path after branching path.
20:45
Next thing you know what you're lost in the middle of the
20:46
forest. You did mention about like
20:48
impact and like the the importance that you've derived
20:52
from being able to like have that impact in classrooms within
20:56
communities as well. But you know, as you're in this
21:00
kind of moment of like introspection, building skills,
21:03
building network, I feel like really clearly defining your
21:08
impact is going to help you get through that forest in terms of
21:12
like all the possibilities. So, you know, could you maybe
21:17
speak a little bit to like what you are wanting your impact to
21:22
be and how that impact ties back to specific value, core values
21:27
that are helping you navigate this, this period of transition
21:30
into the next job? Yes.
21:33
So I'll take the first part. I have mentioned the Fulbright
21:38
and I think hopefully you can link or mention in the show
21:42
description about the Fulbright, really the Fulbright program.
21:46
I, I encourage everybody who is interested in being a global
21:52
citizen to look out, look at the Fulbright programs.
21:55
I specifically am really well versed with the teacher programs
22:00
and they also have professional programs, student programs.
22:05
They are all about mutual understanding and cross cultural
22:09
collaboration and it is something where I am still
22:14
incredibly involved with them. I read applications, I do
22:19
interviews, I do onboarding, I do mentoring, I do orientation.
22:24
So I'm incredibly involved with the UK, Finland and America and
22:31
being able to still keep up with like, it just, it killed me a
22:35
little bit that in the Finnish embassy down in DC, they were
22:41
having an event. I wanted to go so badly, but I
22:44
couldn't take the days off work. But still being able to hear
22:49
what people from around the world are thinking about
22:53
regarding everything, and then being able to say my little
22:58
niche of education, this is how it all relates.
23:04
And I think that's what I learned from being a publicist,
23:08
was looking at everything and then saying here's how this fits
23:12
in. Here's how this one kernel can
23:15
sort of influence everything else or be influenced by
23:19
everything else. So I think that that's one of
23:23
the things is no matter what I'm doing in my life, if I'm
23:28
working, if I'm not working, I am still promoting Fulbright and
23:33
the idea of Exchange being an incredibly powerful tool to
23:41
build bridges, connections, relationships, understanding and
23:46
best practices. Really like the ideas that we
23:49
can give to one another about best practices.
23:52
We all want our kids to do well. I don't care what country you're
23:55
in, you want your kids to do well.
23:58
This is the way to do that. So I highly recommend that.
24:03
I also really recommend programs like the Rotary and Rotary is
24:08
international and it's an opportunity for people to have
24:14
ideas shared around the world. Like they targeted polio and
24:21
made such an incredible difference with polio.
24:23
So there are organizations already out there where whatever
24:29
it is that people are able to do in terms of time, energy, do it,
24:34
get involved. You're going to meet people,
24:37
you're going to get ideas, you're going to get
24:39
understanding. So in terms of my impact, it's
24:42
definitely this is 1 area of my life where I know that if I help
24:48
on board a Fulbright teacher, that then is going to influence
24:54
their students really positively and it becomes a generational
24:58
thing. I think it's interesting to see
25:06
how the next generation is coming up.
25:09
I had my first year of teaching, I think was my first year of
25:12
teaching. I had the student, Fallon.
25:15
Two years ago, she went to Finland on her Fulbright
25:18
Distinguished Award in Teaching. Wow, that's amazing.
25:21
Full circle kind of moment for you it.
25:23
Was I mean beyond I still like my heart swells when I think of
25:29
it. So when you asked about impact,
25:33
that's it was incredibly local to my life.
25:39
But I don't know Fallon students, but I know Fallon
25:44
students are better off because Fallon did this experience and
25:50
they then are taking that. Like I've had students from that
25:52
small town of Pennsylvania and they go abroad. 1 is teaching in
25:58
Southeast Asia. Another did Graduate School work
26:01
in Ireland. And sure, maybe they would have
26:05
otherwise, but seeing someone and know it, like me saying like
26:11
this is how I'm navigating all of this stuff.
26:13
And my child and I did a regular column in the local newspaper
26:18
there. And so we would just talk about
26:21
everything that we were doing. And one of the things was where
26:25
in the world should we send Vivian and Christy?
26:29
And so I had looked at Ryanair and like all the cheap flights
26:32
and I was like, OK, so here are all the places and the, the
26:36
community voted in the newspaper about where we would go.
26:40
And so they voted for London. So we went to London.
26:43
And I, I took Vivian to the Globe Theatre because I was an
26:46
English teacher and Shakespeare's birthplace and all
26:50
of these other places. And it was delightful.
26:54
And I had said, like, I was keeping A blog and people
26:59
messaged me and they were like, you did not post A blog today.
27:03
And they like had beef with the fact that I hadn't posted.
27:06
And I was like, I didn't have Internet, but like, it's ready.
27:09
It's going to it's going to come up.
27:11
And I love that there was that investment in the small
27:14
community where it like people don't have to travel.
27:18
If you don't want to travel, you don't want to travel.
27:20
But if you do want to go abroad, it's possible no matter where
27:24
you live, and that I won't even bother with the second part of
27:29
what you ask because that was so long.
27:31
I know, I know, but this is, this is a lot.
27:33
And I, I so appreciate you sharing this about your impact.
27:36
And you know, the, I think 11 point that really came up,
27:41
especially in the beginning part of your, your response was how
27:44
important it is to get involved not only with your local
27:47
community, but you were speaking about large international
27:51
organizations or organizations that have an international like
27:54
scope of like, here's a, here's an issue, here's a problem.
27:59
What are we going to do about it?
28:00
What can we do about it? And let's, let's do it.
28:03
And I think that that helps you broaden your perspective.
28:07
And you know, even the piece about you Speaking of your
28:10
experience as a publicist there is so important to know the
28:14
context which you're you find yourself embedded in so that
28:18
when it comes to like impact doesn't mean you have to shake
28:21
the whole system, right to make it work.
28:23
You said it was like that one thing, that one kernel that if
28:27
you just slot it in that place at that time, everything
28:32
changes. And Oh my gosh, Scott, let me
28:34
tell you this, right? So because I was a publicist, I
28:38
have always tracked numbers, right?
28:40
Like, what are circulation numbers?
28:42
Like, what are viewer numbers? What are all those numbers,
28:44
right? So a few years ago I ran my
28:48
numbers, Scott, as one person, as one teacher, I have been able
28:55
to positively impact over 3 million people.
28:59
One person. I'm just one middle-aged lady,
29:03
right? But that I think is I had done a
29:08
blog post for the New York State English Council.
29:12
They are the New York State affiliate of of the National
29:16
Council of Teachers of English and I'm on the executive board
29:19
there. They do such good work.
29:20
Look them up. NYSEK.
29:24
So I had done a blog post for them about what's your reach and
29:27
included like a little spreadsheet people could fill
29:29
out because I don't think people in education realize what their
29:34
impact is. But it is breathtaking the
29:41
impact that we can have. And I do say positively, like I
29:45
do think that it is a positive impact that we have on people's
29:49
lives if we are in education authentically and selflessly and
29:56
with the desire to make the world a better place.
29:58
But 3 million people. So like, imagine what your
30:00
numbers are, Scott. I, I don't know.
30:04
I'm, I'm, I'm aspiring to get to that point myself.
30:09
But when you say 3,000,000, so this is that in terms of like,
30:13
like what you've posted people that you, I mean, the students
30:17
that you've served or can can you like explain a little bit
30:20
more what that number means? Because like in terms of like
30:22
what impact even is it's, that's even a hard kind of metric
30:27
because how do you quantify the impact of that student of yours
30:32
who now did the the Fulbright? Honestly, that just for me would
30:36
go off the scale of any, any metric I try, you know, yeah.
30:39
But then there's others where maybe it's, it's not quite to
30:42
the same degree, but I'm curious like where, where does that
30:44
3,000,000 number come from? So I would say about five years
30:48
ago or something like then the last five years, I would say
30:52
that it's it, it like almost doubled, like I was at over
30:57
2,000,000 and then it just sort of went crazy.
31:00
Not so. So part of it is I have always
31:06
run analytics like for my blog, for like social media for all of
31:10
that. So keep in mind, like when I
31:15
post something to social media, I can see who's interacting with
31:18
it, who's not. Like what posts are getting more
31:20
traction. I don't post because of what I,
31:25
what I think people want to see, but I also am aware of what am I
31:32
doing that people would be interested in that might help
31:35
their life out a little bit. And so like, for example, I
31:39
don't think I've posted anything on Facebook like probably in
31:42
months because like, I don't know, I don't really feel like
31:44
I'm doing anything that interesting that people would
31:47
want to see. But some posts do get a lot of
31:50
traction. I've written articles, I've
31:53
written blog posts, I've done interviews, like I've done some
31:57
media stuff. So like just keeping track of
31:59
all of those numbers. But then I have led professional
32:04
development sessions. I have spoken at a lot of
32:09
conferences. I would speak to our school
32:12
board. I would speak for different
32:20
school, school type events, right?
32:21
Like standing in front up in front of the audience and
32:24
talking about when we had a colleague of mine had taken her
32:33
life. And so I stood up in front of
32:36
this auditorium of people to speak about her life.
32:41
And at one point I had asked them if she has positively
32:46
impacted your life, stand in the whole place stood and like, oh
32:51
God, it's still like all of these years later gets me.
32:55
I wish she knew the impact that that she had.
33:00
So it's literally running numbers like that.
33:02
I am happy to put that spreadsheet.
33:04
If you want to link that spreadsheet.
33:05
I am happy for people to be able to run their own numbers.
33:09
I could just put that article in there because I do think it's a
33:12
great exercise for us to do. And, you know, I would also say
33:18
that you know well that that 3,000,000 mark for you in terms
33:23
of like lives is you've impacted.
33:27
I would say it's even larger than that because then like, how
33:29
do you count the interactions that you have walking down the
33:32
street, you know, with your dog? What about the family event that
33:36
you attended? What about that chance encounter
33:40
on the street where you know, you helped someone out, gave
33:43
them encouragement? All of that counts too.
33:47
And, and, and will we know what that impact was?
33:52
You just got to trust that in the moment, the way it comes out
33:55
and how you're feeling that it genuinely reaches them, right?
34:00
It touches their heart in some way.
34:03
So, you know, not to say like it's only teachers can make that
34:07
kind of impact. I mean, any and everyone should
34:10
really like, you know, really think about their own actions
34:14
within the world. But, you know, I do want to go
34:16
to, to the teachers because, you know, I'm, I'm a teacher myself
34:19
and I, I have that special affiliation of like, yeah, you
34:22
know, it can be very, very difficult work.
34:25
Some people might even, you know, I hear this a lot from
34:27
teachers, especially newer teachers.
34:30
Actually, I hear, I hear from teachers who had just started
34:33
and teachers who are like on their way out, right, just
34:35
completely drained. You know, she's just like I am.
34:38
I don't know if I understand this.
34:40
Nothing left. I am just, you know, I just hit
34:42
the wall and then I'm just, I can't go any further or
34:46
something like that. And I think that, you know, for
34:52
them to like understand that their, their impacts, like,
34:56
yeah, that's kind of the name of the game.
34:57
Like you just won't know that the full scale of like the your
35:01
impact. But every now and then you might
35:04
have instances like what you describe with your student going
35:08
and getting the the Fulbright scholarship and going and
35:11
traveling abroad. You know, like when you hear
35:15
stories like that and it's like that, those full circle moments.
35:18
And it's so clear how your life and their life are intertwined
35:24
and that, you know, you know, it's not just you, but like,
35:26
again, you were that one Colonel, you know, that really
35:29
supported them or gave them that insight or LED them down a path.
35:33
That's like you said. Yeah, yeah.
35:37
It's that's when you really start to understand like, whoa,
35:40
like my mission is even bigger than I thought.
35:43
Because we, I think if we're doing our jobs right as
35:45
teachers, we're actually supporting the next generation
35:48
to be better than us, right? Because this is not meant to be
35:52
an ego thing. This is meant to be a truly
35:54
like, you know, the spirit of education.
35:56
Yeah. The spirit of education is like
35:58
you, you said, like you, you want your child, your, your,
36:01
your young people to to be set up for what, what will, what
36:05
they will face in the future. And let's be real.
36:07
What we're facing right now in our future is pretty scary.
36:12
You know, I think it's very clear that it's never gotten to
36:15
such an extreme across many, many different dimensions.
36:19
And yet we need to model what does, what does hope look like
36:23
in the face of overwhelming kind of obstacles or or just
36:27
negativity agree? And I think, I think it looks
36:31
like our ethics and our morals. It looks like those really basic
36:35
things, right it. So here's an interesting thing.
36:41
When I was looking at this small town and I was like, kids are
36:45
dying from opioids. Like we've got to do something
36:47
about it. In rural Pennsylvania, right?
36:50
Right. This is going to be an
36:51
incredibly truncated version, but I started looking around and
36:57
sort of came up with this theory that what's happening is kids
37:01
get to the point of about middle school, right?
37:03
Developmentally, they start to say, OK, I want to make these
37:07
decisions for myself. I want to be independent.
37:10
I don't want to go to parents, family, like whoever those
37:13
trusted adults are, they're like, I don't want to have to go
37:16
to them because I am growing up. So something happens and they're
37:21
too embarrassed to ask their friends for help.
37:23
They're too embarrassed to ask their trusted adults for help.
37:27
And so they don't do anything. And then what happens is
37:33
somebody offers them something. At that moment, they think, OK,
37:37
I'm going to seem like grown up and mature and in control of
37:40
this thing. So they try it and then that's
37:44
it. Like then suddenly it's out of
37:46
control. So like, I theorize there is a
37:50
moment where a kid that age could reach out to trusted
37:56
adults to mentor them through that moment.
38:01
And if they don't, then that's sort of that spiral downward.
38:06
And then the only way to get back out of that is
38:09
developmentally, you've got to go back to that moment.
38:13
And then you have to work through developmentally all of
38:15
those stages, right? Or it's this Arrested
38:18
Development. So I mean, there was so much
38:20
interesting stuff about that. So what happened was I looked at
38:23
like the World Happiness study and that Harvard longevity study
38:28
that it's been going on for almost 80 years.
38:31
And what it all comes down to is this, people want to be loved
38:37
and they want to love others. Like literally that's what it
38:41
comes down to. People want to care about others
38:45
and they want to be cared about. It comes down to such incredibly
38:50
basic things. So how like I was really looking
38:56
at this idea of how do we make this multigenerational?
38:59
How do we make it so that a kid is going to have a lot of adults
39:05
around, just around, and they care about them?
39:07
And how are those adults going to have kids around who care
39:10
about them? Right?
39:10
So like, OK, you have a community garden and here's
39:13
like, I don't know, Myrtle and Myrtle and Vivian, right?
39:19
And so Myrtle's not there one day.
39:22
And Vivian's like, OK, I'll water Myrtle's tomatoes for
39:27
Myrtle, right? It's this small act, but the kid
39:29
feels better for having done something that takes care of
39:32
that person. Vivian isn't there one day
39:35
Myrtle says, hey, where is Vivian?
39:37
Like does sort of that same thing.
39:39
And it's these little things where people do them for each
39:42
other and it can take any situation, right?
39:46
But that was what I was looking at is how do we make it multi
39:49
generational because there is benefit for all different age
39:55
groups to sort of interact together.
39:58
Sorry, I get really excited about that.
40:01
No, rightly so, because that that that is the kind of like
40:05
social fabric that, you know, is kind of being torn apart or has
40:09
already been kind of ripped apart in, in certain certain
40:12
areas of, of this country and, and the world itself.
40:16
But you know, in terms of like what it takes to kind of start
40:19
weaving these threads together and pulling them tight, right,
40:24
that the, the word interconnectedness definitely
40:26
comes up. And then it's like the manner
40:30
with which we engage with each other to give that much grace,
40:33
to give that feeling of, you know, like, you know, altruistic
40:37
spirit of like, I'm doing this for you, but I'm also doing this
40:41
for a community that I just fully rely on.
40:44
And I'm appreciative of the intergenerational piece as well.
40:48
So important, right? A lot of young people just kind
40:51
of are like wanting to kind of, you know, go out on their own.
40:54
I don't need anyone. And then you have on the other
40:57
extreme and but that but that, you know, so that that young
41:01
person going out on their own then experiences, you know,
41:04
isolation and like loneliness. Then you have the other extreme
41:08
of like, you know, elderly population completely on their
41:11
own, right, like everyone else, too busy, not really paying
41:14
attention. And so you have, you know, this
41:17
kind of, you know, all so many different disconnects.
41:19
And I, I see that, you know, happening.
41:22
But, you know, you used the word mentorship a couple of times
41:24
when it came to like, you know, that that critical moment, you
41:27
know, do they have a trusted, you know, adult figure?
41:32
Yeah. And, and I wanted to kind of
41:34
hone in on that because I think mentorship is something crucial,
41:38
you know, that, you know, we all must have experienced in our
41:42
lives either good mentors or bad mentors and for yourself to have
41:46
served as a good mentor for many, if not all of your
41:49
students, right? It's not to say like I was like
41:52
the number one favorite teacher for every single student.
41:54
Oh no, lots of people don't like me.
41:57
And insane, right? You know, but like for those
42:00
students that you know, you know, really you connected with
42:03
and you impacted on a really, you know, on a level that you
42:05
probably can't even fathom, not none of us can.
42:09
Could you maybe speak briefly to like a figure in your childhood
42:13
that was a mentor figure that allowed you to kind of really
42:17
emphasize that, really emphasize some of those like core values
42:20
or ethics that you were Speaking of that are so vital for this
42:23
like social fabric that we're building together?
42:26
Sure, I can say this. It wasn't at school.
42:30
I from a very early age, I hated school, didn't like it, didn't
42:36
feel connected there, didn't feel like I'm mattered there,
42:40
felt alienated. But my aunt Sue, who taught
42:45
elementary school for, I don't know, 40 years or something, she
42:49
is the kindest, most patient person I know.
42:56
She's also the most positive person I know.
43:01
And I, I would say that she is a little bit of my, my touchstone
43:07
when I think about professionalism in a teaching
43:12
career and how to stay engaged and how to continually learn and
43:17
challenge oneself. That's, that's Aunt Sue, I would
43:22
say. Who was that person?
43:24
And I mean, it was even like Aunt Sue.
43:26
One time I spelled my name with AC Aunt Sue had a student named
43:30
Kristy and her class who spelled it with AK.
43:32
And she sent me a charm with AK on it for like a birthday
43:36
present or something. And what I love about that is
43:42
that it like think about what that says about how she felt
43:46
about her student. She felt that connected to her
43:51
student, that it was on the same level as a niece.
43:54
Like, that's really, really powerful.
43:56
I always thought it was such a beautiful thing that it was, you
44:01
know, like, oh, it was a mistake.
44:03
But really, it was affirming that her students mattered to
44:08
her as much as family, which I think is powerful.
44:12
That that is so powerful. And I just kind of want us to
44:15
sit with that for a little bit because I think, you know, you
44:20
know, we, we have teachers, right, who go into the
44:22
profession and they do it for all the right reasons.
44:25
But let's be honest, sometimes it can just kind of be going
44:27
through the motions, right? Or, you know, or you're trying
44:31
to aspire towards like, you know, higher administrative
44:34
leadership, because that just sounds like a good thing, right?
44:38
But truly, you know, those who, who understand like the kind of
44:43
impact that they're making and understand the long term project
44:46
that truly a humanistic education is and what it means
44:51
for the future. Exactly what Aunt Sue in the way
44:55
you described her, her approach of thinking of each of her
44:58
children, I mean, each of her students as if they were her
45:00
very own child or her niece. Can you imagine if we had
45:05
teachers who had that as their baseline?
45:08
I mean, Oh my gosh, you know that that actually might be the
45:11
silver bullet honestly now. But like, it's, it's so
45:15
heartwarming. Like the way you, you know, you
45:17
speak about your your Aunt Sue was like such such respect, such
45:21
love and you know, that impact that she made on you.
45:26
And then everything else that you've spoken about with these,
45:29
you know, like different, you know, school populations in
45:32
different parts of the US, you know, doing research, getting
45:37
connected to different international organizations,
45:39
going and traveling abroad, doing a program at Harvard,
45:44
expanding your impact. All of that is what you're
45:47
telling me is it kind of connects back to on suit.
45:50
Absolutely, absolutely. I mean, really, I when I was in
45:55
school, I can't tell you how horrible it was.
45:57
It was just, it was just terrible.
46:00
And I will say this, I apologize to everyone in high school.
46:04
I was a jerk. Like I hated myself so much
46:09
because I hated being in school so much that I really turned
46:13
that outward. And I think I was, I was mean to
46:16
people and really it was because I just, I didn't like myself.
46:20
And then I got out of high school and I was like, this is
46:22
great. Like this is great not being in
46:25
this school anymore. And so I think part of it was,
46:29
boy, I don't want other kids to feel like that, right?
46:32
Like a 12 years or however long you're in elementary, middle and
46:38
high school to go through that. Like, as a teacher, I get it
46:43
when a kid comes in and they're having a day, I'm like, dude, I
46:46
get it. Like, school sucks a lot of the
46:50
time. Like, yeah, take a load off a
46:53
little bit. Like, let's go revisit what is
46:56
actually important. And like, you know what's not
46:58
important? This paper.
47:00
What is important? How are you feeling about
47:03
yourself? How are you feeling about your
47:04
place in the world? So yeah, I think that you're
47:09
right. That all comes from Aunt Sue.
47:14
Shout out to Aunt Sue. I think it's just it's just
47:17
really, it's just really wonderful when we allow
47:19
ourselves this these moments to think back on, you know, major
47:23
influences on our lives, because maybe, you know, we we find
47:27
ourselves in in moments careers where we are the major influence
47:32
on it. But you know, we kind of, you
47:33
know, we have that, you know, we are rightfully so, the
47:35
protagonist of our own lives and we're doing our thing to the
47:37
best of our ability. But you know, as we are getting
47:42
older, right, we kind of position ourselves in a certain
47:45
way and as the society, but really, you know, that
47:48
interconnectedness across generations, like you said, you
47:51
know, that version of you as like young niece to Aunt Sue at
47:58
whatever grade level is still going to be there, right?
48:00
It's that will never leave you. And I think given the hustle and
48:06
bustle of just life, you know, society, we don't allow that
48:10
that side of ourselves to really come to the fore.
48:14
And that also is another kind of component of the
48:17
interconnectedness even within ourselves as far as our identity
48:21
formation and truly honoring the values.
48:24
And yeah, more, you know, ethics, right, That that that
48:28
we're kind of like laid as foundation.
48:31
I think it it helps to have those reference points.
48:34
You know, you don't have to necessarily articulate in like a
48:36
dissertation. These are my, you know, ethics.
48:40
Sometimes all you need to do is just say a name.
48:43
Isn't that crazy? Boom was Ansu perfect?
48:47
No, no persons perfect, although you probably could argue like
48:51
but she was damn close. You know she was, but you know
48:53
she. Was damn close.
48:54
Is damn close, yeah. Yeah, I could tell just by the
48:57
way you spoke about her. I was like, I have a feeling.
48:59
But, you know, I also don't want to speak in like absolutes that
49:02
like, of course, you know, we're we're, you know, flawed
49:05
individuals. But you know, still there's such
49:08
power in like invoking, you know, mentor figures.
49:12
I think in our lives, it gives us that rejuvenation of like
49:16
energy and like hope to like keep moving forward in the same
49:20
way that they probably, you know, who knows what Ansu was
49:22
going through in her life when she was encouraging you or, you
49:25
know, giving the charm necklace and, you know, like could have
49:28
been like unimaginable, like difficult times.
49:31
And yet they went beyond themselves.
49:35
You know, they were selfless and thinking this is going to
49:38
encourage Christie. You know, this is, This is why I
49:41
do what I do. I want Christie to be happy.
49:43
I think that's great, you know, and so the next question
49:48
actually that I ask is kind of the last question,
49:51
unfortunately. You know, I mean, this is, I
49:54
think, you know, we've, we've covered a lot of terrain in
49:56
terms of where you're at right now.
49:58
And then also what you've done in your, your incredible
50:02
educator career to make impact both in the US and, and abroad.
50:09
But you know, the, the last question is kind of a fun one.
50:12
It's just about any recommendations that you might
50:14
have. So it could be a book, it could
50:16
be a movie. Anything you'd like to share
50:18
with the listeners, Christie? Based on what we have talked
50:23
about, I am going to recommend the short story by Shirley
50:27
Jackson, One Ordinary Day with Peanuts.
50:34
And it is a terrific story, I think to help people decide
50:39
every day are they going to be positive or negative.
50:43
And so it is a fantastic story, Shirley Jackson One Ordinary Day
50:48
with Peanuts and then for a movie, Bad Bets Feast.
50:53
It is my favorite movie. I love this movie.
50:57
I think it's wonderful for the idea of people from different
51:02
cultures, expectations coming together and finding
51:05
commonality, and that idea of how do you give of yourself to
51:10
someone else? And part of the beauty of it is,
51:15
is the act of giving. It's not like receiving for me
51:21
isn't as great as giving. So Babette's feast and one
51:27
ordinary day with peanuts. And then I mean, of course, your
51:30
podcast, like constantly your podcast.
51:33
Thank you're too kind. Thank you so much, Christy.
51:36
You know, this has been such a joy to have you on the podcast.
51:39
I really, you know, learned so much.
51:42
Oh, I'm so glad that you you also enjoyed.
51:45
And it's, you know, it's, it's just so evident that you know,
51:47
you've approached, you know, not only your work, but just your
51:53
life with this mindset of resilience with, with hope, you
51:57
know, and then also the whole growth mindset of like kind of
52:00
pushing forward, learning, asking yourself, what kind of
52:04
impact do you want to be making? How to scale impact?
52:08
How to, you know, really, you know, lean into those
52:12
complexities, but then also getting getting real and just
52:16
grounded in the moment and saying, this is where I'm at and
52:19
that's OK too. So much I think of being an
52:22
educator is about that modeling where people, whether they can
52:26
articulate it with clear words or not, just say, you know what?
52:30
There's something about that person that I, I just, I, I want
52:34
to be like that, you know? And, and you definitely give off
52:38
that same energy, Christie. So, you know, I'm sure that the
52:41
next the next chapter is going to reveal itself very clearly in
52:47
terms of. Yeah, maybe a job, but you know,
52:50
it's so much life is so much more than just the job because
52:53
you have your fingers and so many different, you know,
52:57
things. And, and it's very exciting how,
53:00
you know, as we kind of continue to progress and get old, but you
53:03
know, we, we, we build upon it and we, we recognize things in
53:08
new lights. And so sorry, I just felt like I
53:10
saying that as a form of encouragement, but I wanted to
53:13
give the last word actually to you.
53:15
If there's any final send off you'd like or yeah, final
53:17
reflection piece. I wanted to make sure that you
53:20
have the last word. Something when I did my
53:25
Fulbright, Fulbright orientation, it was say yes,
53:29
things that come up say yes. And that's an idea that I think
53:33
is really important in terms of global citizenship, is saying
53:39
yes to the things that matter and no to the things that don't.
53:42
I mean, I have an easy time saying no, but if it's something
53:46
about global citizenship, say yes because you don't know how
53:50
you're going to be able to help other people.