Learning is not a right to be taken or given by institutions but an inherent physical attribute of what makes us human. Like any muscle it must be exercised in order to provide the widest range of options when our lives come to the myriad of crossroads we all journey through. The learned person, who is prepared to come to those crossroads and choose the better path of knowledge even though it may be the more difficult path, is consecrated in the fire of wisdom.  Without it, we are lost.

Every crossroad is an intersection of means, motive, and opportunity in which we have freewill to either change our course or sail on, unaware of what lies in the seas ahead.

We can choose to bond with those people, places, and circumstance that intersect with our own or not.

We can choose to wait for others to catch up, or move on.

We can choose to let others choose our path for us, or find our own way.

We can choose to be influenced, or to influence others.

We can choose to blaze new pathways, or travel the road worn thin by others.

Our charges never praise our ability to teach them math, or science, or sports, or history. Rather it is when our lives connect at the crossroads of personal development that we share our greatest inspirations. The journey simply strengthens those connections for as long as the journey may last. And when it comes time that our passage must travel a different road, it is our greatest pleasure and measure of our self-worth that we leave our charges better people.

— Kevin Feenan