![]() That freedom has inspired generations of Americans, and though it may have appeared that those seekers were heading off to dig for gold or claim a plot of land, in reality they were searching for themselves. Isn’t that one of the great things about our country? How we’re free to travel wherever we want, giving us plenty of room to figure out life. It took me four days to hitchhike from Saginaw “Kathy, I said, as we boarded a Greyhound in Pittsburgh Though Paul Simon shares his hopes with a girlfriend in “America,” it felt like he was singing for me: Like many who have longed to discover all that they are, I decided I needed to go somewhere else to find myself. People knew me as the boy my parents raised who was voted class clown by his school friends. Along with not having seen the world, I also hadn’t seen all I could be. My potential move might have been too scary to seriously consider if something beyond an innovative school wasn’t also nudging me to make a change. I was 22 years old and had never been beyond my New York state borders. But when the call came with an offer to interview, I wondered if I had jumped too far. I had lots of ideas of how I thought children learned best, so when I heard about the school and found out they were hiring, I jumped at the chance. It provides an ungraded, child-centered educational environment that encourages its students, parents and teachers to learn at their own pace. The Williamsport school was founded on principles I believe in. ![]() I found just such a place in Williamsport, Pennsylvania, 180 miles south of my hometown. Like spring 1978, when, as a new college graduate, I was itching to find a school that would welcome my unconventional teaching philosophies. Despite that, something within me has always recognized when stepping out of my comfort zone is worth the risk. ![]() We didn’t go on a lot of road trips when I was a kid, but even as an adult I’ve always preferred the familiarity of my home. Has there ever been a better song to accompany us as we embark on a life-changing journey than Simon & Garfunkel’s “America”? When Paul Simon wrote it and he and Art Garfunkel harmonized to it in 1968, I’m not sure what sort of pilgrimage Simon was singing about, but ten years later, when I boarded a bus that would transport me to a new life, his musical message of “America” was urging me on.īefore I tell my story, take a listen to the song and notice how Simon chose to start it: “America” By first humming and strumming its melody, Paul creates a comforting feeling-I’d call it meditative-which makes “America” a perfect soundtrack for someone more than a little nervous about heading off into the unknown. ![]()
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