Anything is Possible! And Other Lies from my Elementary School Days

When I was a kid, there was a poster in the classroom that said something like "You can do anything if you put your mind to it."  There were several of these kinds of posters, I remember, and several variations on it.  "Reach for the stars," said one.  "Everything is within your grasp if you work toward it," said another.  It seemed like nearly every elementary school classroom I had been in had one of these colorful posters, and they might have pictures of astronauts or scientists or musicians or some other cartoon figure, just to show how great and awesome your life could be if only you just aim for it.  These are so common that chances are you had one in your classroom too.

And here's another variation.  Never mind that most of the kids in my school looked nothing like this waif in the photo.

What is the converse of these messages, though?  If you can achieve anything by just putting your mind to it and working hard, then if you fail, you must not have put forth enough effort.  You just didn't work hard enough.  Part of me would like to go back in time and have a chat with the elementary teachers who put up these ridiculous posters.  I'd buy them a cup a coffee, except that I'm broke, so we'll just sit on a bench outside and talk.  I'd tell them I thought these posters and the messages they sent were bullshit.

You see, today I looked at the yellow light on my dashboard telling me that I was about to run out of gas, and seriously wondered whether I had enough money to fill it.  To my luck, I made it to my destination without breaking down.  The same car also has shocks badly in need of repair, but you see, I have to buy food.  This week, I got several letters informing me that my student loans for graduate school would be entering their repayment period in several months, and that I ought to come up with some cash by then.  I also no longer have health insurance, so I'm not so keen to ride my bike any more, just in case I get hit by a car that doesn't stop.  The thing is, that was good way to save money on gas and do a good turn for the environment.  

I'm not telling you these things to get you to feel sorry for me, because that isn't what I want.  I'm illustrating why these messages that get pounded into our heads when we were kids are crap.  I have a bachelor's degree from one of the top universities in the nation.  I have a master's degree from another good school, and I got both of them before I turned 26.  I've been in the workforce since I was 15.  We're pretty used to rejection in the fine arts field, because rejection is high even in the best of times.  Except that these aren't the best of times, because it seems that the whole country has declared war on its arts institutions, and no one is getting funding for anything.  I teach music and play professionally, but obviously this is not enough to get me healthcare or keep gas in my Focus or pay my student loans (for that degree I put my mind to and worked so hard for!).  So why not work in another field?  I've sent out more resumes than I can count for everything from bike sales to magazine editing to working as a barista.  I've "networked."  

I even applied to become an officer in the Coast Guard, which was something I had been thinking of doing for some time.  As an environmental writer, the coasts are hugely important to me, and I really wanted to take a more active role in their protection.  This week they informed me that because I once saw a counselor, I'm barred from applying to any branch of military service, including reserve duty, for three years.  The thing is, I saw a counselor because I my current job and the economy had gotten me down, and I wanted to feel more energetic so I could get back in the game.  And yet, instead of helping me, it put up a barrier.  They might as well have said, "No, you can't serve your country!  You're a psychotic axe murderer who talks to broccoli!"  Because clearly anyone who sees a counselor is nuts.

Whose fault this is, I can't rightly say.  I suspect the blame for this situation, which is certainly not unique to me, lies in a lot of places, not just in one or two like the far right would have us believe.  I think we as nation should be ashamed of ourselves, of this huge income gap between the bottom and the top that we have allowed to grow, of the fact that someone with two prestigious degrees cannot even get a job serving coffee to the one percent.  And so I still find myself on this economic reservation, unable to leave.  It clearly must be because I just didn't put my mind to it.    

You know what?  My elementary-school-self didn't sign on for this shit.