Excerpt from Turning on the Lights: Part II.3. Secret to success – African Village Story
Do you know the “secret to success”? In the learning culture, it is very important for all to know this secret. In the MESA Program, all MESA Creators know the Secret to Success[1], a.k.a. African village story:
A wise man lived in an African village next to a lake. He knew every secret of life.
One day, two village kids decided to test the wise man. They asked him, “What is the secret to success?” Without saying a word, the wise man took each kid by the hand and walked them to the lake and into the water – until they were completely underwater! The kids didn’t know how to swim, and they began to panic.
But just before they could no longer hold their breath, the wise man pulled them out to the shore. Taking deep breaths, the kids wildly began to catch their breath, and they screamed at the wise man, “Are you CRAZY? You could have killed us!” The wise man answered, “Just before I pulled you from the water, what was most important to you?” The kids replied, “We were going to drown. We wanted to breathe!”
Sharing his wisdom, the wise man said, “Exactly! When you find something in life that you want as much as you want to breathe, then you will find the secret to success.”
Now you too know the secret: if you want to succeed at anything, then you must want it as much as you want to breathe!
This was a lesson learned when MESA Creator Andrew, an African American student, first joined our MESA Program. Prior to joining MESA, Andrew was a student at Morehouse College, an all-male, liberal arts Historically Black College and University. Founded in 1867 and located in Atlanta, Georgia, Morehouse College has a reputation for providing an academic foundation for African American men, including the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. However, when Andrew attended Morehouse College, it was not the right time or place for him in his life, and he dropped out of school. Over time he found his way to San Diego, he enrolled in San Diego City College, and he joined our MESA Program, where he was trained in the learning culture. His goal was to transfer to a 4-year university in mathematics. Andrew excelled academically at City College by applying the learning culture, and he earned a perfect 4.0 GPA in a semester where he was enrolled in 12-units, including Calculus III and Linear Algebra! It was a terrific achievement for anyone, but especially for a young man following a new direction in his life and making a second attempt to succeed in college. Andrew was excited to share the news with his Corner Man. Here is our exchange:
Andrew: “Corner Man, I got straight A’s!”
Corner Man: “Mr. Andrew, you did? Wow, congratulations! That’s what I’m talking about. Very proud of you. What did it? Was it Big Picture, BPR, Section Summaries?
Andrew: “All of the strategies in the learning culture are great, but the thing that stuck with me the most was the African village story.”
Corner Man (surprised): “The African village story? You remember the African village story?”
Andrew (very serious): “Yes, I want to breathe!”
Andrew was right. It was a very important gap for him, but through the learning culture he found the secret to success, and he demonstrated this through his actions. Andrew succeeded in transferring to the University of California San Diego in mathematics!
What is your direction in life? What are your goals? Do your actions say that you want to achieve your goals as much as you want to breathe? No one can want it for you, more than you.
[1] Adapted from story by Dr. Edward N. Prather, Emerging Ethnic Engineers Program, University of Cincinnati