Celebrating the Legacy of Dr. Martin L. King Jr and Leaving your own legacy

Yesterday was Martin Luther King Jr's birthday and this weekend is the celebration of his life and legacy. Dr. King was truly a great man and left a lasting impact on this world, through his teachings and what he accomplished to make this country a better place for us all. Although, we still have strides to make to improve racial relations and equality for all in this country; it is so much better than it would be if Dr. King, other civil rights leaders of the time and those who joined them in that great cause. Those individuals worked hard to make the change they vision of what this world could be and their vision has come to pass.

One can learn so many things from the life and legacy of Dr. King. This great man, died over 40 years ago and not only are we still celebrating his life and impact on the world, but teaching his principles to the current and future generations. The main lesson I take away from Dr. King is that if you want to be a great person, you can't just live your life, you must leave a legacy. In order to leave a legacy, you have to live your life working for a towards making life better for more than just yourself and those in your network. When I moved to Atlanta and visited the King center I learned that Dr. King and his family were part of the privileged African Americans that had access to education and wealth. Not to say that they didn't have it hard, but they had it better than most African Americans in the south during their time. But he had a desire to make life better for more than just his family, but for his community and the world; and he accomplished that and every day the world is becoming a better place.

The second lesson that I take from Dr. King's life and legacy is when you are passionate about a cause, that passion ignites others to join you in your cause. If you think about it most visions that make an impact in the world are too large for one person to accomplish on his own. But that person has to be a great communicator and have great passion, to ignite others toward his cause and work toward making the vision a reality. Dr. King inspired so many people to make a difference in the world as he saw it needed to be changed, from the leaders he trained to assist him with the direct organization of the movement to the countless people all over the country that joined him in the cause. We wouldn't even be talking about the March on Washington, if only Dr. King was present. We wouldn't even be taking about Dr. King if he didn't have people to believe and buy in to his vision and work towards the cause.

I just want to take some time to thank Dr. King for thinking bigger than himself to make a difference in this world. Thank you Dr. King for the life you lived and the legacy you left for those who have come behind you. His life truly inspired me to think bigger than myself and establish SEM Link 5 years ago. But just like Dr. King, my vision to promote academic achievement and career exploration in math and science for K-12 is too big for me to make a reality all by myself. So I want to thank all the board members past and present, the staff, the volunteers, corporate and community partners for joining me in making the vision of "unveiling potential through exposure" a reality. Let us continue the work that we started so that SEM Link can leave a legacy and make its impact in math and science education. We are on our way to creating the members of the future STEM workforce.

President Obama's STEM initiative aligns with SEM Link's Vision of Mentoring

When I received the link to this article on my Facebook page about this initiative that the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, Department of Education and Learn and Serve America is pushing as a MLK Jr Holiday service project, I thought, my friends and colleagues in DC must have told President Obama about SEM Link( for more information visit http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2010/01/12/mlk-technology-challenge). This project encourages technology professionals to partner with schools to improve their technology infrastructure and increase their use of technology.

With this being the beginning of the New year and National Mentoring Month, it is important that we think of ways we can mentor youth. You see the thing about mentoring there is no right or wrong way to mentor as your proteges learn something during their time with you. Our organization was founded and we selected the name for the organization as SEM Link for the same premise in which this project is based ; we can enhance the educational experiences for youth when we connect them with STEM professionals, undergraduate and graduate students. The great thing about connecting the STEM community to the K-12 students and educators is that it truly combines the best of both worlds for the students to prepare them for our future. The educators teach the students the basics educational foundation and implement the principles of student learning. The STEM community brings the strong content knowledge in these subject areas and opens the students eyes to the possibilities of who they can be, what more they can do right now and what they can do when they grow up.

So STEM community, be a part of the link that our organization is building between schools and the community by getting involved. If have time to spare be a doer and find an ongoing service opportunity like tutoring, math or science fair project mentoring. If your time is limited volunteer for a one time event like judging a math or serving as an exhibitor for our career fair. If you don't have time, but you have some extra cash be a donor by making a financial contribution to our organization. Visit our website at www.semsuccess.org to find out what you can get involved and link yourself to K-12 students and educators and help us "unveil potential through exposure".