Dignity: Teachers Can Change the World

“A good education can change anyone. A good teacher can change everything!” 

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Last night I had the honor of speaking at the Berkshire Community College (BCC) Nursing Pinning ceremony. It was an honor to be chosen to speak, but it also brought back memories of being on that stage twenty-nine years ago when I was a graduate of BCC. My journey from 1989 to 1995 at BCC change the course of my life. I didn’t realize it back in May of 1995 but as I grew and matured, I have come to understand the importance of receiving a great education but even more important than that was the mentoring of amazing teachers. Although I feel I gave a good speech, if I ever have the opportunity to speak again, I would talk about the amazing teachers who helped me realize I could be something more.  

I believe there are two important relationships that help to guide us in our lives, our parents and our teachers. As young children they are the people we interact with the most. When I speak about teachers, I am not just talking about the ones we see at school. I am also talking about coaches, faith leaders, and our childcare workers to name a few. They are committed to supporting the growth and education of our young people, and just like our parents, a good teacher can lead us down the road to success if we are willing to follow. I had an amazing mother and some great teachers but the younger me was not willing to follow until I went to BCC. 

I didn’t realize I had a learning disability back in the 70s. I don’t believe dyslexia was talked about or that there were teaching tools to help someone like me learn. I was smart but I didn’t feel that way because I could barely read or write. My spelling was terrible so I learned to write sloppy so that I could hide the fact I could spell the simplest words. I would use humor to get around reading out loud. I just made it through high school and then I went on to college but failed after one year. I was teased a lot about how I wrote and my difficulty with reading. I didn’t even want to read to my daughter. When I said I was going back to school even my closest friends did not believe I would succeed but not the professors at BCC. 

BCC took my disability and said to me that if you put in the work, we can turn this into a possibility. They supported me but challenged me. I was reading Shakespeare, and I was understanding it. I was reading poets like Robert Frost and interpreting meaning. People were asking me for help. I even became a tutor for anatomy and physiology. I never knew I had this in me (My mother told me I did) until I made the decision to take on the hardest challenge of becoming a registered nurse. BCC brought out what I kept hidden inside. I value my degree from BCC more than any because without those amazing professors I would not be where I am today.  

Today I want to take this moment to say thank you to my first teacher my mother, and to all the teachers who believed in me in Scituate, Massachusetts, to all those college professors who took the time to help me become the person I am today and to my first faith leader and teacher Pastor Stephanie who taught me the importance of mercy and grace.  

I encourage all of you to take the time to remember and thank those amazing people who taught us and who teach our children every day like my sister in-law Kelly who helps to mold the minds of our teenagers as a science teacher and my wife Erin who is a graduate of the first early childhood education cohort at BCC and to the amazing teachers at Wahconah Regional High School who helped educate my children, you are the reason that Nelson Mandela said, 

“Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.” 

Thank you to all those teachers who changed my world 

Charles Redd RN 

Dignity Freedom Fighter