What sculpture is to a block of marble...

What sculpture is to a block of marble, education is to the soul.

--- Joseph Addison ---

Oh, SPOP! Well, tomorrow is a big reunion weekend for the Student Parent Orientation Program at UC Irvine.  Staffers (volunteers) from 1991-1995 are coming back to the area to get together, reminisce, and reunite.  Although I won't be able to be there in person, I'm dedicating this post to the amazing impact that this program (and more importantly the people) has had on my life.  This particular quote was the theme for the 1995 (Navy blue) year, and was a pivotal year in my life, where I met and got to know better some of the most influential and important people in my life.  It was an experience that was 'magical' :)  The staff generally consists of about 100 unpaid volunteers who work throughout the summer to welcome students and parents to the UC Irvine campus.  These volunteers are lead by 5 student coordinators who hire, train, and advise the staff, and plan all elements of the program.  It's a phenomenal program because everyone is allowed to be whomever they are - as all aspects of individuals in the group are celebrated and appreciated.  There is an unconditional love and respect that is rarely seen in groups that size.  I know I've written about SPOP before, and each time it brings me back to the songs, the memories, and the feelings I had that helped me to become who I am today.  Thank you SPOP!  You rock!

To IMAGINE is everything...

To know is nothing at all, to imagine is everything.

--- Anatole France Thibault ---

This was the first SPOP quote that I encountered as a staffer at UCI (forest green year).  It set the tone for our spring training and subsequent work in the summer.  Seeing the quote printed on every piece of material, wearing t-shirts with the quote on the back, and hearing it spoken by the coordinators of the program became a tradition to me that ingrained the power of words and understanding.  I particularly enjoyed the emphasis on imagination as a creativity-lover and one who practices 'dreaming' up new ideas.  Coming back to this quote, with a number of years more experience :), and a different understanding of how things work in the world, it is wonderful to see how some of the pieces of our lives in the past fit perfectly together.  I love this quote for what it meant to me back then, and what it now reminds me to see as an educator and life-long learner.

Back to the future....

The future is not something we enter, the future is something we create.

--- Leonard Sweet (wikipedia) ---

Dreams and.. Imagination

Our dreams are only limited by our lack of ability to imagine.

--- unknown ---

On the flipside of this quote - only what we can imagine, and only what we can dream up can possibly come true.  It's a reminder that some of the best things that have been created are the result of an unlimited imagination.  In some instances, events and circumstances surpass our greatest hopes and dreams, but this quote emphasizes the power of imagination.  Sky's the limit...