Freedom
“None who have always been free can understand the terrible fascinating power of the hope of freedom to those who are not free.” – Pearl S. Buck
Enough said.
The “voices” of Women’s History
“I’m a prayin’ child, period. That’s where I get my freedom. I tell you, freedom to me is the ability for men and women, all created equal, to speak, think and do or not do what you want.” – Mavis Staples
“I am a woman with thoughts and questions and sh*t to say. I say if I’m beautiful. I say if I’m strong. You will not determine my story – I will.” – Amy Schumer
“I love to see a young girl go out and grab the world by the lapels. Life’s a b*tch. You’ve got to go out and kick ass.”— Maya Angelou
“Don’t compromise yourself. You are all you’ve got. There is no yesterday, no tomorrow, it’s all the same day.” – Janis Joplin
“Above all, be the heroine of your life, not the victim.” – Nora Ephron
“You know, you do need mentors, but in the end, you really just need to believe in yourself.” – Diana Ross
Madness that is March
College basketball in March (and a little bit in April), nothing better.
It’s become a national pastime. Hard to find anything more exciting if you are a sports fan, and even for those who aren’t. I’m a Cinderella story guy myself and love how the tournament ends with the playing of “One Shining Moment” as a short video documents the triumphs and tribulations of the tournament. (oh, and it also indicates The Masters begins the following weekend, but that’s for another blog post).
As you may know, Freadom conducts an Elevate an Educator Campaign every year to bring well-deserved honor and respect to our country’s educators. At Freadom, educators are our all-stars and we believe they deserve at least one shining moment too. So, we’re incorporating the exciting concept of March Madness into our voting process. We’ve narrowed this year’s incredible nominees, though hard, down to two regional finalists, in 5 regions. From there, we will establish our Final Five, from there, our MVE, Most Valuable Educator.
To join in on our March Madness fun, cast your VOTE HERE!
Coach K
Speaking of basketball,
I can’t STAND Duke Basketball.
Mostly because my cousin played basketball at NC State and my brother played ball at UVa.
Maybe it’s their fans. Or maybe it’s because Christian Laettner is an overrated punk, or because Bobby Hurley is a whiner.
Anywho, you gotta respect Coach K, the program and the program's culture.
And, it’s hard to argue with results.
Over 41 years, Coach K has led Duke to 5 National Championships and 12 Final Four appearances.
He is the winningest college basketball coach of all-time, with a 1196-365 record.
2022 will mark his final season coaching.
This past Saturday, Coach K coached his final game home game against archrival UNC (for the record, I don’t like them either). Shockingly, Duke lost. Unfortunately, someone had to win.
As you can imagine, since this was Coach K’s last home game at Cameron, there was a lot of pomp & circumstance leading up to his final home game, and it continued post-game and even into the press conference. Most of press questions were geared toward his career, not the UNC game.
Coach K was respectful, gracious and reflective about his career, to a point.
However, he was more interested in reflecting on the game and what was ahead of them, the ACC & NCAA tournaments. He didn’t want to talk about himself and take a well-deserved career victory lap. He didn’t want to look back, he still had a job to do and more to accomplish for Duke and the Duke basketball program.
And THAT’S what makes a “winner”, a winner:
- organizational culture
- uber focus on team; WE, not me
- unparalleled passion
- high standards, no compromise
- a winning process (notice I didn’t say winning is everything)
- mental toughness
- and a relentless pursuit of excellence, getting better & growth
Congratulations Coach K, much respect.
Truly yours, avid college basketball fan (BTW, my mom is in love with you!)
Word of the Week
FAITH, honorable mention, believe.
What’s the difference?
Well, give you a little homework —
As my mother would say, “go look it up”.
No, no, put down that phone!
Find a real dictionary… with ink, printed on paper, now look it up!
Disgusted with gas prices but ok with the price of java
OMgoodness, what?! Has anyone noticed? I know, I know, dumb question. Of course, we have, it’s something we Americans obsess about.
I remember putting 25¢ (you read that right) worth of gas in the little stick shift (some of you might not know what this is, google it) Honda Civic I was permitted (not my own) to drive as a teenager. Yes, 25¢ would actually make the needle move and that was good enough for me. But then again, gas was less than 50¢ gallon “back in my day”. Let’s face it, when gas prices rise, we’re all appalled, right? Furthermore, we associate the rise and/or fall of gas prices directly to who’s in office, as if they directly have their finger on the price of crude. Argue amongst friends… that’s not my point, getting there. But before I do, I’ll drop a few gas facts:
According to https://gasprices.aaa.com/
- national gas price today, $4.31/gallon
- national gas price one year ago, $2.81/gallon
- 59% of Americans will make lifestyle changes as gas reaches record highs
- 52% of Americans have plans to take a vacation this summer. Of those, 42% said they would not consider changing their travel plans regardless of the price of gas.
REALITY CHECK: I was willing to pay $4.54 for 3oz of espresso this morning. OR, $24.21/gallon!
Perspective’s a killer.
P.S. I don’t like paying more for gas, just a little self-counseling.