Guest post by the Student Success Committee

I’m currently in the Greek unit of my mythology course, and last week we discussed Pandora and the mysterious element trapped inside her box: hope. We discussed how that word, hope, is more than a pretty “thing with feathers that perches in the soul”; it’s a deceptively simple-looking word that offers philosophical debate (is hope a blessing or a curse?). But now I’m seeing it in a new light: Hope is not a feeling and is neither a blessing nor a curse; it’s an act of rebellion against a hard world, and it’s a call to action. 

In the field of education right now, it’s so easy for us to get swept away by the riptide of academic woes, and we use metaphors like—well, riptide, but also boots on ground and battle and fighting the good fight, etc. We’ve aligned our careers and the diurnal tasks of teaching and grading and prepping and meeting with that of battle. And it’s not like we’re wrong with the perceived issues: budget cuts hand-in-hand with increased tasks and responsibilities; maintaining standards along with successful completion from increasingly underprepared students; and so on. It’s enough to make our brains hurt. And they really do hurt, and—at the risk of being corny, so do our hearts because let’s face it: We entered this field to do good work, to educate and empower students in our community, to help them prepare for civic responsibility and stable livelihoods. Sometimes, lately, we can feel like Sisyphus or even Atlas, after he shrugged. (Thus concludes the Greek allusions.)

Okay, enter cynicism, or as I like to call it, the thing that makes us feel superior and the thing that also excuses us from taking action. According to Jamil Zaki, Professor of Psychology at Stanford who runs a lab to study things like empathy and hope, a pessimistic person doesn’t fight for much. In fact, he argues that many of them don’t vote or engage in civic movements. After all, why bother advocating for change if things are hard and are only getting harder?

“Always predict the worst, and you’ll be hailed as a prophet.” 

So, basically, the ego may be drawn to cynicism because we don’t want to be viewed as positive Pollyannas. Many think cynical people are smarter; they judge the optimists, believing they’re not paying attention or that they’re acting naively. I would argue, though, that optimism is the fraternal twin of cynicism because they, too, aren’t obliged to advocate or take action because “it’ll all work out in the end.” (Interestingly, in one of Zaki’s studies, he found that pessimists were actually worse at determining who was lying or telling the truth than optimists.)

So, where do we pitch our tents if not in the campgrounds of either cynicism or optimism? Enter hope. Zaki argues that hope is the idea that the future could turn out well. But unlike optimists who may be complacent in their (toxic) positivity, people with hope need to work to make it happen. People with hope might argue that, yes, things are hard, so what are we going to do about it? How do we make it better? 

In an interview, Zaki references Nelson Mandela as a symbol of a person with hope. Mandela was imprisoned–he knew how bad things were because he was living in it. But he didn’t give up, thinking people are the worst and why bother. Instead he engaged in actions and he used his voice and experience to create change.  A hopeful person does. (Sidenote: Zaki also argues that, historically, authoritarian regimes benefit when we’re hopeless. The negativity keeps us frozen, which is what “they” want.)

Okay, so what enables hope? According to Zaki three things: 1) A belief that things can change. 2) a will to pursue the change 3) and a sense of “waypower” (knowing where they are and where they want to be). A hopeful person finds communities who also have a vision, and they work together to create change. And so here we are, my GCC community.

The bottom line is that we don’t want to ignore bad things, but we might be missing the good things. To have hope is to practice noticing the good things. So, I think of what gives me hope right now: live music, a friend who rehabilitates wildlife, a new book from a favorite author, a student who asks thoughtful questions, a colleague who has the patience of a saint. 

There’s so much negative noise in education, nationally and immediately, and the situations and expectations can feel daunting. But if we have the privilege to be a part of an educational system, then we also have the responsibility to represent hope….Hope that we will continue to engage our students; we will continue to challenge and support them; we will continue to connect them with resources and services; we will continue to speak up and defend what we believe in: That a community college is a welcoming place that meets students where they are and gives them hope for their own futures. This is my community, and my vision for the future is to keep advocating for students, imagining improved interventions, engaging in challenging conversations, and practicing realistic and ever-evolving expectations. 

What about you? Where are you finding hope right now? Or maybe, what revolution will you be a part of?