Andrew Young, the former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations and former mayor of Atlanta, acknowledged that he had been a challenging student for many teachers. Take heart, he told his audience, because "even the students that you think are hopeless often end up surprising you."
Andrew Young
As educators, "you have a lot more influence on this world than you can possibly imagine," Young told the audience at his Opening General Session address. He noted that young people today shape the values, influence the economy, and drive the culture—with or without our support.
Drawing from the words of Nelson Mandela during his inauguration as president of South Africa, Young said that educators help students find their own light and let it shine. He also cited Socrates' view that education is not pouring something into a student but rather bringing something out of a student from within. "If we're going to ignite a passion for learning," Young advised, "then we have to ignite a passion for understanding, a passion for knowing ourselves, a passion for really and truly deciding what we think."
Young noted that his elementary school experiences helped him hone skills he later used as an ambassador. His father was a dentist, and the family lived in a working-class, predominantly white neighborhood. Young, however, went to school in a very poor black neighborhood and didn't fit in either place. "I either had to run or fight or negotiate," he recalled. Through those experiences, "I soon learned that maybe the most effective weapon that I had was my mind."
Young drew parallels between the racial and economic tensions in his city and the current tensions between the United States and other countries. Americans face the challenge of learning to relate to people who envy them and wish they had similar opportunities, he noted. "We are a people of plenty in a world of want," he said of Americans, and if that good fortune is not shared, "it inevitably breeds resentment."
Students are struggling with the changes in the world, and it is important to give them a voice, Young advised. "As we pull out of those young people the best of their thinking, the best of their courage, as we develop their confidence . . . then we will have people who are inspired with a passion for learning."
Young told his audience of educators, "Our economy, our world, and everything that's happening in the 21st century is in your hands." He then added, "And I'm convinced it's in very good hands."