Brandon Stanton's Blog, page 197

(1/3) “I got my first classroom when I was twenty-two. I was...

(1/3) “I got my first classroom when I was twenty-two. I was so young at the time. I think I first went into special education imagining that I’d be hanging out with kids all day. I’ve been teaching for ten years now. Special education is a lot more exhausting than I imagined. It’s like a performance. You need to be ‘on’ the entire day. You need to be strict. You need to always say the right thing and respond in just the right way. I do enjoy it, but in a different way than I imagined. Many of my students come from broken places. Some are homeless or live in foster homes. So the gains come slowly and can be difficult to track. But I get joy from seeing my students want to learn. It’s very fulfilling for me if I can inspire my students to want to read a little better, or get a job, or be kinder to their classmate. It can be very tough sometimes to feel like you’re making a difference. I remember during one of my first years, I was teaching a group of nonverbal students how to take turns, and everything went to hell and the students started screaming and beating their heads against the table. Then my best-behaved student turned and bit me. I thought: ‘I failed. I made things worse.’ But anytime I feel myself burning out, or losing patience, or not giving it my all, I pull back and do some meditation. Because if I’m not fully present and trying my hardest to make a difference, I should just quit.”

“It’s our first date. We met on Fire Island. I wasn’t even...

“It’s our first date. We met on Fire Island. I wasn’t even planning on going out that night. I’d already drank half a bottle of Johnny Black so I was just going to stay in and read my Chelsea Handler book, but my friends promised to bake me cookies if I went to the club with them. So I went to buy three bags of cookie dough, and when I finally got to the club all my friends were making out with somebody, so I was like ‘this sucks,’ and I just started dancing by myself and eating the cookie dough. Then I saw him by the DJ booth and we made eye contact so I went over and started sharing my cookie dough. We never actually spoke. Then a few months later I ran into him on the subway.”

”We met at a Burning Man boat party. I was tripping acid, and...

”We met at a Burning Man boat party. I was tripping acid, and he came over and asked if I was OK. I thought he was a cop, so I said: ‘Yeah, I’m fine. Get away from me.’”

Merry Christmas! Yesterday we raised nearly $500,000 in...

Merry Christmas! Yesterday we raised nearly $500,000 in financial assistance for the refugee families we met during the month of December. As of now, this is enough to provide each family with about $40,000. That is a large amount for anyone, but when you are starting from zero, it is all the money in the world. These families lost everything in the war. Most have multiple children and significant medical needs, so our assistance will significantly ease the stress of starting over. Thanks so much to everyone who gave yesterday. The fundraiser will run for one more day, so anyone else who would like to donate may do so here:

http://bit.ly/1TjkNc0

Most of the refugee families that we profiled this month have...

Most of the refugee families that we profiled this month have made their way to America. And as the initial excitement fades, they are faced with the stark reality of starting from zero in a new land. Being an immigrant is very difficult. Being a refugee is even worse. Most of them lost everything in the war. And because they were kind enough to share their stories with us, I thought that we could help carry a bit of their load this Christmas.

Money we raise over the next 48 hours will be divided evenly among the families that we profiled, including Aya’s. Let’s use this Christmas to give back to the refugees who so openly shared their painful stories with us. Even if we could provide a few thousand dollars to each family—that money will stretch a long way.

This Christmas, consider helping us give the gift of a fresh start:
http://bit.ly/1TjkNc0

He pulled me aside, and said: “I’m taking her on a boat ride...

He pulled me aside, and said:

“I’m taking her on a boat ride tonight and I’m going to read her a poem I wrote, and then give her a promise ring. When I met her, there were things going on in my life that would have made any other woman walk away. But I told her everything, and nothing changed her mind about me. I don’t have any money. I don’t have a great job. But she still sees so much in me. I’d marry her tomorrow if I could, but I’m only nineteen and we’re both working students, so I can’t quite do that yet. But I wanted to give her a promise ring to let her know that I planned on being with her forever. Eventually I’ll get her an engagement ring too. But I think the promise ring is even more important. Because an engagement ring is just my promise to get married. But the promise ring is my promise that we’ll be together forever.”

“This would happen to me today. That’s fucked up. I broke up...

“This would happen to me today. That’s fucked up. I broke up with my boyfriend on Friday. I filed my Obamacare last night at midnight. I got four hours of sleep. I left this morning without taking a shower. I didn’t put on a dress. I just put this pink thing on my head so I wouldn’t look so tired. And now I’ve just finished working and I’m heading home to eat Chinese food. And you want to take my picture. Can I at least put on some lipstick?”

“I stayed in an abusive relationship for too long because I...

“I stayed in an abusive relationship for too long because I didn’t think I deserved any better. I finally ended it, but afterward I started second guessing myself. I began to feel lonely and I thought: ‘As bad as it was, at least you weren’t alone.’ A big challenge has been learning to be OK with being by myself. One day I may meet someone else, but in the meantime it’s just me, so I’ve got to do what’s best for me. I decided that if there’s something I want to do, and I can’t find anyone to come with me, I’m going to do it anyway. Tonight I’m going to see a bagpipe concert at Madison Presbyterian Church. I’ve even been on several vacations by myself. I went to Miami recently. It’s fun during the day because you can lie on the beach and you’re surrounded by people. But at night it’s a little tougher because it’s quieter and darker. And without all the noise around you, you sort of realize it’s just you.”

Today in microfashion…

Today in microfashion…

“I want to be a physicist and find a unified field theory...

“I want to be a physicist and find a unified field theory because it kind of needs to be done. String theory is inadequate because it provides no testable hypothesis.”