How Can I Help?

Have you ever helped someone get rich?  Well, I have.  I used to work in the financial industry in banking.  I worked primarily for local, community banks.  These are considered small start-ups.  The first start-up I worked for was founded by two men who were trying it for the first time.  It was very exciting.  They rounded up all their friends and asked from each an initial investment of $100K.  It all came together, employees were hired and the bank began to grow.  Our mission statement promised that we would provide the best service in the region.  We did so.  In the first five or so years, advertising was not at all necessary as word of mouth was spreading like wildfire. 

When a small start-up bank does everything right and continues to grow and good loans are made, they can count on being looked at by larger banks.  That’s exactly what happened.  A big bank liked us so much they made an offer that the board of directors could not refuse.  We were sold.  This made the two men and their friends, the founders, very rich.  The two who started it all were set for life.  Don’t get me wrong, I harbor no ill feelings for them.  They deserve it.  However, the big bank inevitably comes in, first they make changes, then they close offices, then they lay people off.  It is very hard for those who work from paycheck to paycheck.  There is no golden parachute for the workers. 

Lucky for me, it all happened right about the time my husband was taking a new job in a different city.  I continued my career doing the same thing and more at another small start-up bank.  It all happened again, almost exactly like the first. 

It was then that I realized I was in the wrong career.  Yes, I want to help people get ahead in life but not like this.  I want to help people up through education.  That’s why I find myself in college today at age forty-two. 

There are people all around us that need help, some more than others.  There are people who can help and they should. 

Masuji Ono, the main character of Kazuo Ishiguro’s book titled, “An Artist of the Floating World” saw his people in Japan suffering.  It was Matsuda, Ono’s mentor, who opened his eyes to the poverty within Japan.  Matsudowalked Ono through some of the impoverished areas.  “Look down there, Ono,” Matsuda said.  “There are more and more places in our city like this.  Only two or threes years ago, this was not such a bad place.  But now it’s growing into a shanty district.  More and more people become poor, Ono, and they are obliged to leave their houses in the countryside to join their fellow sufferers in places like this.” (166) 

It was after seeing, in several parts of his city, tremendous poverty, starving children and depleted services that he was proud to begin painting propaganda.  He sought to help the impoverished by supporting the Imperialist government with propaganda in support for the war effort.  Though the war did not turn out well for Japan, Ono’s heart was in the right place.  He recognized the needs of his people and sought to do something about it. 

Another example involves several people helping each other as well as those around them.  Elizabeth, in Bessie Head’s novel “A Question of Power” demonstrates how important it is to be needed and to need others.  In her village, the village of Motabeng in Botswana, she has the garden, Kenosi and Tom.  She participates in a co-op.  Basically a group of people have come together to plant in their garden fruits and vegetables, to experiment

and to come up with what will work in arid Botswana. 

Elizabeth is part of this network.  "She crawled out of bed.   A woman stood at the door.  Her name was Kenosi.  I have come to you to join in the work." (89-90) Elizabeth and Kenosi work the soil together side-by-side.  She has come to depend on Elizabeth.  In the garden, she also meets Tom.  "He worked beautifully." (111)  He is a hard worker who has a good soul.  He does not hesitate to help others.  Elizabeth sees this in him on a daily basis.

These two examples are significant to me.  These people recognized a need within their communities and rolled up their sleeves to dig in and do what they could to improve conditions.  A person cannot stand alone, without friends or family and continue to thrive.  We are all human, one great big family.  We live on this planet together. 

I want to be someone who helps others.  I take a look around my community and see what needs to be done.  I strongly believe that education is the key to personal success and financial solvency.  I want to assist people in getting there. I will help enrich the lives of those less fortunate and find true happiness in doing so.     

EDUCATION