Looking Beyond Present Circumstances

I just returned from spending a week in Ukraine, lecturing and meeting with faculty members and administrators at several regional universities. I enjoyed my time with these stalwart educators, who were gracious at every turn and who honored me with their time and thoughts.
 
One of the lessons I came away with was a renewed sense of the importance of educators to a culture’s future. Ukraine regained its independence only in 1991, so its professors have an opportunity to shape the future of their country, which is one of the most important of the post-Soviet nation-states. They labor at the front lines, and their work is valuable.
 
Now that I’ve returned to the U.S., I am reminded that in the difficult economic times we are facing, academics here, too, have an opportunity to shape the future. One of my mentors said more than once: “Education lifts up our eyes above the immediate to see that the world is larger than ourselves or our hometowns.” 
 
The danger of difficult times is that they will level our eyes to present circumstances, rendering us blind to opportunities on the horizon. Academe has a tendency to focus on the negative, even with our students, but as the great fictional character Bart Simpson once noted, “Making teenagers depressed is like shooting fish in a barrel.” Inspiring students of whatever age to overcome circumstances is a whole lot harder, but it is essential. Most of us who are faculty members can attribute our successes to that handful of professors who somehow lifted our eyes to see the potential that was just beyond our untutored reach.
 
I thought I would pose a simple question today: What keeps you focused on the future in spite of the circumstances of the present?