GREAT MEN AND WOMEN

Of the many pearls found in his 1901 autobiography Up from Slavery, the great American educator, author, and activist Booker T. Washington affirmed:
“There is no education which one can get from books and costly apparatus
that is equal to that which can be gotten from contact with great men and women.”
He is, of course, correct. Though many of the lectures, readings, and quizzes of my formative years have regrettably escaped my memory, it is impossible to distinguish myself from the educators who made an undeniable and permanent impression upon my life. Fundamentally, their teachings are forever part of who I am. Thus, when faced with the arduous task of planning for my future, it was these great men and women who influenced my calling to educate.
Each teacher is holding an object representative of that which they inspired in me—a dedication to students, a love of reading, or a classroom full of magic. These objects are in color, for they represent my identity and are subsequently the focus of the photo. Each teacher is in black and white because, though they are not me, the ghosts of their influence will be present in every future student I encounter.