The Power of Facebook: One Man’s Quest to Discover Life’s Greatest Lessons

This story was written by David Menasche – former teacher and author of The Priority List: A Teacher’s Final Quest to Discover Life’s Greatest Lessons.

My Diagnosis

Six years ago, I was told that I only had a few months to live.

Just a few weeks before, I had started hearing a ringing in my left ear.  I didn’t think much of it until the sound became a sensation that ran through my face and then the entire left side of my body.  Soon, one doctor led to another as I underwent seemingly endless medical tests.  When the final results came in, one of those doctors sealed my fate with the devastating words I’ve lived with every day since:  Brain Cancer.

I did survive my first surgery, and over the next six years, I continued to defy my doctors’ expectations while enduring the discomfort, illness, and daily nausea that resulted from several years of chemotherapy, over thirty rounds of radiation, and several more surgeries, all necessitated by the tumor’s growth.  I lost whole swaths of memories as a result of these treatments, but despite the doctors’ many, many pronouncements, I didn’t die. Instead, I lived more than ever.  I immersed myself even more fully in being a teacher, relishing in each moment I had with those kids.  I celebrated each student’s accomplishments with true joy and pushed twice as hard when I knew they could take it.  My time was valuable, and I had to make it count – both for my benefit and theirs.

The reality of my situation overwhelmed me until I remembered the promise I’d made to myself long ago.  Cancer had taken my past and would take my future, but it wouldn’t take my present.  I realized that for the first time since becoming a teacher, nothing was tying me down in Miami.  There was no good reason for me to remain stuck at home, feeling trapped and restless. I could regain my freedom and independence by going out into the world and traveling by bus, ferry, train, or anything that didn’t require me to drive.  I could see the Pacific Ocean for the first time, while I still had a piece of my vision left.  Along the way, I could seek out my former students and ask them what they remembered of our time together, in the hopes of regaining my memories and maybe even making some new ones.

My Vision Quest

I kicked off my project, which I call a Vision Quest (for a nearly blind guy, the irony’s pretty rich), in the fall of 2012.  I started by reaching out to former students on Facebook, explaining my plans and asking for couches to sleep on along my way.  Within 48 hours, I had offers from over fifty former students – fifty open hearts, open minds, and open homes.  These students were now willing to help me live my dream, to teach me as I once taught them, and to assist me on a journey over deserts and rivers and miles and miles of open road, to meet new people and see firsthand the America that Kerouac and Whitman wrote about.  Before I knew it, the media caught wind of the story, and when each news outlet posted an article on my timeline, teachers around the world reached out to me on Facebook, validating my choices and offering encouragement.

I spent a total of four months on the road visiting with 75 of my students in 31 cities.  Every time I was on my way to a new city, I posted on Facebook and quickly found places to stay, invitations to dinner, and new friends to meet.  There were moments of pure joy as I relished brand new experiences – holding a newborn baby for the first time (only four days old!), visiting a Hindu Temple, and drinking absinthe – and moments of anguish as I stood at a playground on Thanksgiving day with a former student and her children, thinking about how I’ll never have kids of my own.  I saw how far my students have gone in life, becoming Wall Street Bankers, government agents, Immigration Officials, writers, teachers, and lawyers, many of them surpassing my own accomplishments.  I stopped being the teacher and became the student, and learned from my former pupils about parts of the world I have never seen, different foods, and new movies.  And, most importantly, I learned who I was to these students and what I meant to them through all of the things taught me.

All of my communications on my trip were through Facebook. Every day, I was on Facebook either reporting on my latest adventure or planning my travel to the next stop, and after I left each city, I felt validated and “liked” by all of the people who commented on my posts.  Facebook also helped me enjoy the long stretches between cities, and I was grateful to have it on my phone during the 43-hour train ride from Minneapolis to Portland.  It’s not an overstatement to say that this this once in a lifetime adventure wouldn’t have been possible without Facebook.

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