Edclicking Keyword Cloud
By Dr. Harry Tennant
Thursday, May 24, 2012 Education Ride 365: The Small World I Share With Einstein And You All! My exploration this year of the 50 states covering at least 50,000 miles reinforces the fact that our country is extremely large. It has also offered me more than a few "small world" moments! In a recent post I wrote about my explorations of the Mississippi River, including a visit to its headwaters in Minnesota's Itasca State Park. I saw no more than a couple of dozen people my entire time there. One lady on the trail was wearing a TCU sweatshirt. Texas Christian University is located in Fort Worth, within an hour of where I live. Missing home a (slight) bit, like most every traveler does, I struck up a conversation with her! We seemed to share an association---a tie to the DFW metroplex---but as it turns out she was not at all connected to Texas and didn't remember how she acquired the sweatshirt. It was a "not such a small world" moment, soon followed by a true "small world" moment!  As I was snapping a photo of an informational sign along the path, I noticed another passing couple waiting to have a word with me. I stopped and we introduced ourselves. They recognized me, or at least the Cycle of Education, from days earlier and hundreds of miles away in Fargo, North Dakota. They explained that the Cycle was parked outside of a Starbucks much of the day and they took note. I often set up shop at Starbucks when on the road and remember the day I had it parked there.  One feature of the Cycle's paint job that caught their attention in particular is the representation of Einstein's formula E=mc². They recently sent me the two photos above, including the one where she is holding his business card up right next to the formula painted on the Cycle. It turns out that her fiancee's business moniker is E=mc². Ironically enough, fearing a "small world" moment of too much exposure, they asked me not to use their names in the post and blacked out sensitive information in the photo!  As large as our country is, as many people as roam its surface, we are still often connected in so many ways we often aren't aware of. During these travels, I am building a large network of associations---both inside and outside of education. I am regularly reminded how intertwined our paths can be. Einstein offered the world a formula for how matter is turned into energy and energy into matter. Hmmmm, if only I could offer a formula for how associations among people can be turned into energy...and vice versa! Yea, right! Perhaps I can offer a formula for how attention to continuous school improvement can transform students into the type of citizens we need to safeguard the future prosperity of our country! Yea, right! Alas, perhaps the best I can do is to continue riding, continue exchanging ideas and learning from others, and be prepared to actually create the synergies I'll have to leave up to more brilliant people to ever offer a formula for! Onward! Posted at 5:14 PM Keywords: Education Ride 365 , EdClick , Cycle Of Education 0 Comments |