The Gift a Poem and Kudos and Props to Two Mentors in My Life, one past, one present (186 hits)
The Gift
The Gift Never Dies It resurrects itself when the time comes and transforms your entire being
It is always there waiting. Waiting for you to say yes and allow the Universe to Open the windows and doors to your glorious future.
I also want to Thank God for the two most influential people in my life outside of my parents, Ms. Joan Brookshire and Mr. Abdullah. Ms. Joan Brookshire was one of my professors at Marymount Manhattan College. She ran the introductory and orientation courses at MMC for returning students. I was 36 when I went back to school to earn my BA in English.
Obviously one has to do plenty of writing in college. After she had read and evaluated much of my work, Prof. Brookshire said to me, DeBorah you have a Gift. Use it. She even got me into a special one year program at MMC called Women in Urban Leadership to firm up my latent leadership skills. She believed in me and told me so. I thrived at Marymount Manhattan College and began to perfect my true gift, however like many other women I got sidetracked by men, once I graduated from MMC.
Fast Forward to Jan. 2008. That's when I began working for the museum. I was initially assigned to the 19th Century Art section of the museum. There I met my supervisor, and eventual mentor and friend Mr. Abdullah. Now what influence could this odd little, (he's only about 5 feet tall) Arab Muslim man have in my life. Well as God said to Samuel don't judge by outward looks but what's on the inside. He was always polite and helpful to me as I learned my way around the museum and about the artwork but he noticed that I always had my head in a book. In fact the other guards at the museum called me the guard who likes to read. Anyway one day Mr. A and I were discussing how to help a fellow guard with his college studies and he asked me what my major was. I said English. He also inquired into my future career plans. I told him honestly that I really did not know what I wanted to do at that time. Since then I have rediscovered and resurrected my gift and Life Calling.
He told me upfront that I did not belong in the museum working as a security guard. He explained to me that I needed to further my education and think about pursuing a teaching career. Naturally he is partial to teaching because he is an adjunct professor at various colleges in NY on his days off. During all the time I have been at the museum he has really encouraged me and helped me whenever he could. He even reviewed a writing sample that I had to submit to Columbia University. He loved it. Mr. Abdullah feels that I am an excellent writer and coming from him that is high praise. Now I did not get into Columbia, however Mr. A. feels that I should try for the CUNY colleges. He's right and my dream is still to get my MA in History, not Education or English. I already know what I want to do I just need an open avenue to get there.
These are two people I Love very much. Once again I Thank the Lord for Prof. Joan Brookshire and one of the best supervisors at the museum Mr. A.
