I have volunteered numerous times at a high school for at-risk students, helping with student portfolio evaluations. These “Portfolios” are laptop computer programs representing what classes the students are taking, what they are currently learning, what their personal interests are and what they want to do after graduation.
The spectrum of students’ “readiness”, initiative and accomplishment was wide! Some students were way ahead of the curve (some obsessive compulsive), but many were just “going through the motions” and some not even on the scoreboard.
Two students were particularly notable – not even having initiated a portfolio project.
One was a “strapping” Black student who had likely “earned his stripes” navigating his neighborhood – and who seemed very suspicious of “authority figures”. He required a lot of “softball” questions to engage in the exercise. When asked what he wanted to do after graduation, he volunteered, “Drive a truck!” I asked if he had ever ridden in a truck or tried to drive one and he said he had ridden several times with his uncle, who was a long-distance truck driver. NO ACADEMIC QUALIFICATIONS NEEDED HERE (!) … or so it might have seemed. (I didn’t ask “What about demonstrating independent initiative and responsibility, keeping cargo inventory logs, doing on-line tracking, dispute resolution, or negotiating with management.”)
The second student (a “Sophomore”) was a recent inductee to the school – previously “home-schooled” by his grandparents for several years. This student was somewhat “effervescent” just being there, but was obviously way underwater “unschooled” – not knowing what he didn’t know, not caring to know any more, and figuring it simply didn’t matter – it was “irrelevant”. His post-graduation plan? Enlisting in the Army. Apparently, nobody had yet told him the armed services have certification criteria that have to be met prior to successful induction, including a valid HS Diploma or GED.
Of course, relevance is in the eye of the beholder: “If this doesn’t apply to me, and if I am never going to use this information, why bother?”
Relevance is based on our prime interests and experience-to-date … on how something RELATES to where we’ve been and where we want to go. If you’ve never been out of your neighborhood, geography might seem irrelevant.
But there is a lot more to RELEVANCE. It includes how RELEVANT we are to OTHER PEOPLE! One’s chances of getting a job – or of being elected to political office or of promotion – depend a lot on how many OTHERS of notable stature can vouch for our integrity and ability to add value to whatever we do. We have to be RELEVANT to THEIR PURPOSES.
More than half of the formula for success comes from the fact that life is a FIVE-HANDED NAVIGATIONAL ENTERPRISE, requiring a GUIDING HAND, a HELPING HAND, and a HAND UP to the next rung on the ladder from significant others. Inspiring those significant others through whatever useful things we’re doing with our own TWO HANDS – doing things that are in some way RELEVANT – keeps the ball rolling.
USEFUL is a worthy surrogate for RELEVANCE. And “MATTERING” may be an ultimate reference point. In her book “Mattering: The Secret to a Life of Deep Connection and Purpose”, author Jennifer Breheny Wallace says that Mattering is the sense that we are valued by others and have value to add to the world.
“If someone looked at how you spent money last month,
would they be able to tell what matters to you?
Scott Clary
Doing what’s most USEFUL, RELEVANT and MATTERS … showing how much you CARE about and CONTRIBUTE to the universe … will bring you closest to your true PERSONAL potential. Quartermaster
