Resilience
We love a good story and if it is about people who find success in spite of tremendous odds, we applaud even more and shed a tear. Researchers have been investigating this human trait they have named resiliency for several decades. One seminal work of resilience was a longitudinal study conducted by Emmy Werner and Ruth Smith. This research team studied a cohort of multiracial children born in the 50s, into poverty and to parents with little education or serious mental health
Wendy McCurry and me. She exemplifies resilience.
problems. Werner and Smith followed this group over a period of 20 years. This work endeavored to describe and define resiliency. Currently, researchers pursue the task of identifying the factors contributing to those who did well or poorly in adversity or risk factors. Research studies the processes that lead to resilience and interventions that promote resilience such as parenting, engagement in school and executive functions.
As an educator, I have worked with learners ranging in age from early elementary to adults. I have witnessed this “unsinkable Molly Brown” trait. You know that person who has every right to just quit and embrace failure. The deck is stacked against them. However, somewhere they turn the corner and change their destiny. They switch the fate they were handed by the circumstances of their birth. Wendy is that person. Let me tell you about her.
Wendy came from poverty and abusive home conditions. She was a single mother and an English
Resilience is all about doing well in the context of adversity and risk.
language learner. When I met her she was studying to pass her GED in between waitressing and babysitting jobs. For a while we worked together on her GED preparation. Then life happened and we lost contact with each other. About 18 months later we reconnected. She had passed her GED and her Real Estate license. She was seeing clients and looking great. Wendy still faces adversity and risk however, everyday she gets her makeup on, slips into her high heels and goes to work.
I love my work. I love helping people learn to learn and reach their academic goals.