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By Dr. Harry Tennant
Friday, March 2, 2012 Education Ride 365: Nothing Ventured Nothing Accomplished! On Day 48, February 17th, I pulled out of San Antonio for a very long day of riding, sandwiched around a visit to Santa Maria Middle School (near Brownsville). It was a rainy day---the entire day---and a rainy night too. My ultimate destination was Laredo TX. The faculty at Santa Maria MS is currently very focused on helping their students create a vision of themselves attending college. Middle school is an important time to get students thinking about that path. While it may seem a bit premature to push college education before students even begin their high school education, it is actually very wise. This was a theme of my address to the student body.   One key goal regarding college is to get someone else to pay for it...and I'm not talking about family either! My presentation to the students of Santa Maria emphasized the importance of starting now to avoid a lifetime of school debt and/or other financial challenges associated with paying for post-secondary education all by one's self. Scholarships and grants can be earned by those who: 1) take care of their grades throughout secondary school, 2) are well-rounded by virtue of going beyond academics to active participation in other school activities, and 3) who show that they care about people other than themselves by, for instance, participating in volunteer activities serving others. Engaging in these three activities and recording your efforts to do so can pay for a great education!
  Following the assembly, the students all had an opportunity to view the Cycle of Education and have their picture taken by it. Some even had their picture taken on it...including the very gracious Principal of Santa Maria MS, Ms. Elizabeth Garza (pictured below).   I had a super time in Santa Maria ISD. It is always fun to have interaction with young people! Thank you so much faculty, staff, and students of Santa Maria MS. In particular, thanks go out to Ms. Kelly Cotton for arranging the visit and chronicling it in their school newsletter, which can be viewed by clicking here.  Thank goodness for the enjoyable time at Santa Maria, because the ride itself from San Antonio to Santa Maria, then on to Laredo, was a soaking wet beat down. In the last substantial town before riding the last hour to Laredo---in total darkness along the Texas/Mexico border, on uneven surfaces, and continuing rain---a Chrysler 300 kept edging into my lane for 50-70 feet before I backed off only to see him veer across my lane, clip a car in the turn lane, then hit yet another car head-on that was traveling the opposite direction. It was a bad scene. Thankfully there were no fatalities, but it reminded me just how precious and unpredictable life is. It also reminded me how crucial it is to stay ultra-aware while traveling on a motorcycle...a lesson that may have paid off a few dozen miles down the road when my slower speed allowed me to react safely to a (four-legged) coyote crossing the road about forty feet in front of me.  It was a day of extremes---> the joy of trying to make a difference with young people enabled by braving the risks of the road! Onward I travel! Onward go the students of Santa Maria MS! Riding Stats: Day 48---458.1 miles traveled, 8 hours and 50 minutes of moving time, 4 hours and 10 minutes of stopped time, 51.8 miles per hour average moving time, 35.2 miles per hour overall average, and a max speed of 83.9 miles per hour. Posted at 9:33 PM Keywords: Education Ride 365 , EdClick , Cycle Of Education , Day_48 0 Comments |