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Genuine happiness in front of a classroom

Posted: Friday, October 17, 2008 3:53 PM by Daily Nightly Editor
Filed Under:

By Michelle Kosinski, NBC News correspondent

There's so much going on in this country right now, that stories like this tend to easily get lost in the stress and strain of the bigger picture.

But that's also what makes these things such a pure pleasure to find, and put together sometimes...a small escape, some good news, one person... whose story might otherwise escape notice in a week like we've had.

A reminder that a single person still makes a difference. Often, a quiet difference-- never asking for any recognition. But that difference-- that inspiration-- has a tendency to spread. And these are the good people who collectively make our country great.

Chimaobi Amutah's mother didn't come from this country, she survived civil war in Nigeria and emigrated to New Jersey, where she supported and raised her four children by herself.

Because education was not easily accessible in her homeland, that is what she relentlessly instilled in her children. That the one sure way to raise yourself above the gang violence and drugs surrounding them, was to grasp an education with both hands, and not let go. Not always so easy for Chimaobi (pronounced Chi-MO-bee) and his siblings, when other young teens were making quick cash selling cocaine on the streets.

At one point, he says, he held drugs for a friend of his, who then tried to persuade Chimaobi to sell it. He thought about it, but couldn't bring himself to do it.

Chimaobi knew he was smart and could get good grades if he wanted to, and he kept at it, even as one by one, EVERY single one of his group of friends ended up in jail for one thing or another. Not one graduated from high school. Only him. And all three of his siblings.

So how did he rise above all that, make it not only through high school, but to Harvard?

He credits his mother's persistence, admitting with a laugh to harboring a longstanding outright fear of her, but also a single incident at his high school: Ivy League night. Not a well-attended event by any means at that time, by students OR colleges, at Trenton High. But Chimaobi's teachers convinced him to go, and that was it.

He had no idea it would be even remotely possible to get THAT kind of an education. No way of knowing he could afford it, or that those schools would ever be interested in a kid like him.

But that one night, and those teachers, changed his life. Again, someone offered encouragement. Told him that yes, it WAS possible.

He still vividly remembers the day he came home from school, walking past the usual dealers on the gritty corners, to see three large envelopes waiting at his front door. Acceptances. Yale. Princeton. Harvard. His mom still can't help but get a little loud when she remembers her pride that day. She too, until then did not fully believe that such dreams could come true for her son.

Chimaobi knew this was a key to everything-- a top education, and very likely a great-paying job one day. He thought maybe becoming an entertainment lawyer would set him up pretty well.

What makes his story more remarkable is that what he ultimately chose to do as soon as he graduated: he headed straight for one of the most economically-challenged places in the country. From Cambridge, Massachusetts-- to rural Belzoni, Mississippi. Where there is no bookstore in his entire county, and where funding for education is hard to come by. The state has ranked at the bottom of per-student spending in the United States.

Chimaobi decided to be a teacher, in a place where students most need them. And role-models. And dreams.

A devout practitioner of the "tough love" he learned so well growing up, he does not try to act like a kid or talk like a kid to win their friendship. He earns their respect by showing them that despite coming from a place just as poor, he has educated himself to exude nothing but dignity and a quiet, steady thoughtfulness about the world around him. His background didn't make him tough or bitter or braggadocious about it; it made him stronger and more understanding.

He talks, with a frequent enormous laugh, about how his students try to figure him out. "Like, one of my students said-- 'Mr. Amutah, you smart...but, you ghetto!'" He erupts in more laughter. "And I was like, I didn't know how to interpret it at first, but I said, yeah, I'm from a certain environment that's categorized as a ghetto. But I mean, there are millions of intelligent people in neighborhoods like this!"

His students are silent and attentive in his class. Afraid, too, that he might fail them-- as he did not hesitate to do to many of his high school kids last year. Some are now getting better scores on tests than they imagined possible. And THAT makes Chimaobi light up with pride.

"The difference between me and a lot of my friends I grew up with, was motivation-- who was at home, checking homework, pushing you to do better.. and threatening you when you needed to be threatened!" He laughs again, thinking of his equally-passionate mother. "That stuff-- it makes a difference! So, I'm trying to be that for some of them. Just somebody to support them and encourage them consistently. Somebody to set high expectations for them."
Then, "I love teaching."

The 23-year-old has decided the classroom is where he wants to stay. He's earning his Master's through the University of Mississippi Teachers' Corps. His siblings are all scholars as well, and his mother Abigail just earned a college degree of her own. She couldn't be more proud, seeing her son reach out to get kids excited about learning. Was this the American dream she'd imagined for him? Not exactly at first, but now, her heart understands.

"Material possessions are nice on some level, but they don't make you," Chimaobi says. "And they don't create happiness. I feel fulfillment. And genuine happiness, seeing them grow and develop."

One guy, who stuck with his big dream, to help other young people dream big. Is this news you need to know? No. But will it feel good to hear... I think so.

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Comments

BIG UP to mr. amutah for having the courage to reach for what he initially imagined to be impossible. as a black woman working on my msw in new york, i continue to strive to overcome the struggles, which unfortunately came along, as a result of my foster care and transracial adoption experience. very early on, i was exposed to institutionalized inequities of education. what academia means and how it's gifted to certain people, while others find themselves left out, is a huge part of why i chose to dedicate my life to social work and social justice. as i watched, i realized there was a bigger story. a tragic piece of american his-story, if you will, revealed in the segment about mr. amutah's journey. educational institutions, as well as government, and those working inside them, like administrators, guidance counselors, social workers, teachers, etc., sometimes fail to properly inform or educate certain communities and individuals about the opportunities, which may exist for them in higher education. up until the day mr. amutah attended the ivy league night, he never imagined he could obtain such academic advantages, like studying at harvard, which leads me to the following question. how can you be in a place you were unaware even existed, when you are denied the tools or the privilege some obtain as a birthright, to get there? although we no longer see signs on drinking fountains and bathroom doors, which read "whites only," there are deeply rooted institutions which exist in this country, and manage to historically reflect such oppressive sentiment.

thank you for sharing mr. amutah's story. my hope is one day individuals like him, and academic opportunities such as his, will no longer be the exception, but will exist as the rule.

gem, queens, new york (Sent Saturday, October 18, 2008 1:30 AM)

Yes, this is a great story and I thank Michelle Kosinski for writing it.  As a teacher in Sacramento, California, who's seen in my numerous immigrant students the very same germ of humanity she describes here.  The mom wasn't born in America, in an American ghetto, an American place of no hope engendered by the self-serving forces ensconced within American education, upper and lower, who capitalize upon the dysfunctional American educational system as it stands now.  

I've seen my students from Africa, Middle Europe, Russia, Ukraine, many Southeast Asian countries, Georgia, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, etc. come here and work hard actually against the prevailing attitudes and slovenliness of local kids/parents from their American community counterparts.  I myself have been inspired by various parents who've come in to talk with me (instinctively avoiding the school authorities in doing so) about how their children are doing and to thank me for actually caring for them as a family.  Already they knew the school authorities don't care about them, but that some teachers within this uncaring system do care about their hopes and dreams.

A graduate of our school I met working at a local bank in exchanging about how the district runs our schools, said, "The district will always serve it's own people first at everyone's expense.  Our education was a joke compared to what I learned as a child in Ukraine.  The gift of the school for my family at the high school was the drug addiction of my little sisters".  

Later at our districts most revered high school I had the illuminating experience of a nice young lady from Arkansas in her first two weeks come up to me and say, "Mr. Giles, am I going to have to keep doing this all year?"  

"What is that you're holding up?"

"It's my English, but I did this stuff in the eighth grade back in Arkansas!"  She was a junior in high school.

She and all foreign students, as well as kids from other states, all told me in different ways that our California educational system was, well, let's say, behind their norms.  The German young lady simply picked up and went home, deciding she could not waste any more of her time here.  They were all very gracious toward me personally, but their message was very clear.  As a photography teacher, I wasn't involved in this stuff, for we all in our classes did spectacular work, but their school work left in my room told a frightening story of simplistic, reactionary, almost non-thought, vastly below their capabilities.

This at a "rich white kid school" as a columnist in our equally dysfunctional local MSM paper, the Sacramento Bee, said.  The disease (the soft bigotry of low expectations) afflicting our nation's ghetto schools, pervades all of Cal Ed in my observations.

The heroic young man, and his mother, shown to us in Kosinski's offering to us here, has actually done what Obama says he is for but not what Obama has done.  I say this because Obama has profited from the horrifically dysfunctional teachers union within the historically corrupt Daley/Stroger political machines of Chicago who allow these sinecures to continuously enrich themselves, to huge salaries, as they vote themselves fewer and fewer duties under the protection of these political machines.

I see these examples of teachers' union self-service at the kids' (communities') expense as seen in corrupt Chicago occurring right here in Sacramento, as we copy under cover of various nice sounding soft sound-byte phraseologies, the oncoming imperatives of self-service of those we've entrusted, at our peril it seems, to 'educate' our kids.

I deeply appreciate Kosinski's writing perceptively about these new heroes of America.

Miguel, Sacramento, Ca. (Sent Sunday, October 19, 2008 7:01 AM)

Yes, this is a great story and I thank Michelle Kosinski for writing it.  As a teacher in Sacramento, California, I've seen in my numerous immigrant students the very same germ of humanity she describes here.  The mom wasn't born in America, in an American ghetto, an American place of no hope engendered by the self-serving forces ensconced within American education, upper and lower, who capitalize upon the dysfunctional American educational system as it stands now.

I've seen my students from Africa, Middle Europe, Russia, Ukraine, many Southeast Asian countries, Georgia, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, etc. come here and work hard, actually against the prevailing attitudes and slovenliness of local kids/parents from their American community counterparts.  I've been inspired by various parents who've come in to talk with me (instinctively avoiding the school authorities in doing so) about how their children are doing and to thank me for actually caring for them as a family.  Already they know the school authorities don't care about them, but they do know some teachers within this uncaring system do care about their hopes and dreams.

A graduate of our school I met working at a local bank in exchanging about how the district runs our schools, said, "The district will always serve it's own people first at everyone's expense.  Our education was a joke compared to what I learned as a child in Ukraine.  The gift of the school for my family at the high school was the drug addiction of my little sisters".

Later, at our district's most revered high school, I had the illuminating experience of a nice young lady from Arkansas in her first two weeks come up to me and say, "Mr. Giles, am I going to have to keep doing this all year?"

"What is that you're holding up?"

"It's my English, but I did this stuff in the eighth grade back in Arkansas!"  She was a junior in high school, consciously asking for relief.

She and all foreign students, as well as kids from other states, all told me in different ways that our California educational system was, well, let's say, 'behind' their norms: It's easier that way.  The German young lady simply picked up and went home, deciding she couldn't waste any more of her time here.  They were all very gracious toward me personally, but their message was clear.  As a photography teacher, I wasn't involved in this stuff, for we all in our classes did spectacular work, but their schoolwork left in my room told a frightening story of simplistic, reactionary, almost non-thought; vastly below their capabilities.

This at a "rich white kid school" as a columnist in our equally dysfunctional local MSM paper, the Sacramento Bee, said.  The disease (the soft bigotry of low expectations) afflicting our nation's ghetto schools, pervades Cal Ed in my observations.

The heroic young man, and his mother, shown to us in Kosinski's offering to us here, has actually done what Obama says he is for, but not what Obama has done.  I say this because Obama has profited from the horrifically dysfunctional teachers union within the historically corrupt Daley/Stroger political machines of Chicago who allow these sinecures to continuously hugely enrich themselves, as they vote themselves fewer and fewer duties under the protection of these political machines.  Obama anchors himself to those profiteers of our hopelessly dysfunctional educational systems' sub-textual efforts to imbecilize the people, one generation at a time.  About 6% of those kids successfully go on to college by age 25.

I see these examples of teachers' union self-service at the kids' expense, as we see in corrupt Chicago, occurring right here in Sacramento, as we enable, under cover of nice-sounding sound-byte phraseologies, the imperatives of self-service of those entrusted, at our peril it seems, to 'educate' our kids.

I appreciate Kosinski's perceptive illuminating these new heroes of America responsibly living 'The American Dream', the editors more than likely capitalizing on the embedded race quotient to leverage her elequent story into publication.  I've witnessed similar heroes in all races and all cultures.

Miguel, Sacramento, Ca. (Sent Sunday, October 19, 2008 7:52 AM)

We see so clearly the NBC censoring of my comments one might think, even imagine, that honest people would consider germaine to the important topic.  We believe that NBC will post said commentary only at the last minute, if at all, to avoid being called racist censors working for their darkly intended sinecure supporters inhabiting our teachers unions and education in general.  

This method allows no one to see said commentary, while still claiming the comment was posted.  We are keeping a log of censored comments to prove NBC's dishonor.

Miguel, Sacramento, Ca. (Sent Monday, October 20, 2008 6:33 AM)

Yes, this is a great story and I thank Michelle Kosinski for writing it.  As a teacher in Sacramento, California, I've seen in my numerous immigrant students the very same germ of humanity she describes here.  The mom wasn't born in America, in an American ghetto, an American place of no hope engendered by the self-serving forces ensconced within American education, upper and lower, who capitalize upon the dysfunctional American educational system as it stands now.

I've seen my students from Africa, Middle Europe, Russia, Ukraine, many Southeast Asian countries, Georgia, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, etc. come here and work hard, actually against the prevailing attitudes and slovenliness of local kids/parents from their American community counterparts.  I've been inspired by various parents who've come in to talk with me (instinctively avoiding the school authorities in doing so) about how their children are doing and to thank me for caring for them as a family.  Already they know the school authorities don't care about them, but they do know some teachers within this uncaring system do care about their hopes and dreams.

A graduate of our school I met working at a local bank in exchanging about how the district runs our schools, said in paraphrase, "The district will always serve it's own people first at everyone's expense.  Our education was a joke compared to what I learned as a child in Ukraine.  The gift of the school for my family at the high school was the drug addiction of my little sisters".

Later, at our district's most revered high school, I had the illuminating experience of a nice young lady from Arkansas in her first two weeks come up to me and say, "Mr. Giles, am I going to have to keep doing this all year?"

"What is that you're holding up?"

"It's my English, but I did this stuff in the eighth grade back in Arkansas!"  She was a junior in high school, consciously asking for relief.

She and all foreign students, as well as kids from other states, all told me in different ways that our California educational system was, well, let's say, 'behind' their norms: It's easier that way.  The German young lady simply picked up and went home, deciding she couldn't waste any more of her time here.  They were all very gracious toward me personally, but their message was clear.  As a photography teacher, I wasn't involved in this stuff, for we all in our classes did spectacular work, but their schoolwork left in my room told a frightening story of simplistic, reactionary, almost non-thought; vastly below their capabilities.

This at a "rich white kid school" as a columnist in our equally dysfunctional local MSM paper, the Sacramento Bee, said.  The disease (the soft bigotry of low expectations) afflicting our nation's ghetto schools, pervades Cal Ed in my observations.

The heroic young man, and his mother, shown to us in Kosinski's offering to us here, has actually done what Obama says he is for, but not what Obama has done.  I say this because Obama has profited from the horrifically dysfunctional teachers union within the historically corrupt Daley/Stroger political machines of Chicago who allow these sinecures to continuously hugely enrich themselves, as they vote themselves fewer and fewer duties under the protection of these political machines.  Obama anchors himself to those profiteers of our hopelessly dysfunctional educational systems' sub-textual efforts to imbecilize the people, one generation at a time, at increasing public expense.  About 6% of those kids successfully go on to college by age 25.

I see the same sort of examples of teachers' union self-service at the kids' expense here in Sac, as we see in corrupt Chicago.  We enable, under cover of nice-sounding sound-byte phraseologies, the imperatives of self-service (California Teachers' Association) of those entrusted, at our peril it seems, to 'educate' our kids.

I appreciate Kosinski's perceptive illuminating of these modern-day heroes of America responsibly living out the highest spiritual precepts of 'The American Dream', the editors more than likely capitalizing on the embedded race quotient therein to leverage her elequent story into publication.  I've witnessed similar heroes in all races and all cultures in Sac.  This heroic mother and son's accomplishments run counter to the standard Democratic edu-playlist of destroyed education and drug tolorance as I've witnessed it's operation through time.

Miguel, Sacramento, Ca. (Sent Monday, October 20, 2008 3:47 PM)

Re: this really great story about really good people.

I see NBC's clear censorship of election-pertinent comment from a California educator who sees wider implications implicit in this story than NBC wants people to see.  NBC is clearly fearful of real first-hand information getting out there, unfiltered by their editors;  and loses all credibility in this process.

Miguel, Sacramento, Ca. (Sent Tuesday, October 21, 2008 12:32 PM)

At last some commentary let in, long after most people had a chance to see it.  This was done be by design, since these comments began to be submitted days ago.

Miguel, Sacramento, Ca. (Sent Tuesday, October 21, 2008 5:45 PM)

Thanks Michelle for a job well done on such a deserving young man, Chimaobi.  MSNBC has always been my favorite news channel, because I share your values.  Your channel covers great stories that I like to hear.  My gratitude goes out to you Michelle and the MSNBC Team.  Thank you guys for everything and especially letting the world know what a great job people like my son are doing to help others. God Bless you.
Abigail Amutah

Abigail Amutah, Trenton, New Jersey (Sent Monday, November 10, 2008 5:13 PM)



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