Motivation for Strive

I'm a History teacher but also conduct the Strive Boxing/Mentoring Program. The purpose of the program is to parallel the fight in life with the fight in the ring. Many of my students will fight if someone looks at them the wrong way; they will fight if someone accidentally steps on their shoes, and they will fight for that perennial "he said, she said" dialogue. But too many times, I find that my students won't fight to succeed. Through boxing and the class, students learn that they must first learn to dream, then fight and persevere in order to attain their dreams. Our neighborhood ranks highly in all of New York City in homicide rates. Many students value little but their material possessions and that which rappers and TV personalities portray as success. They won't fight for bigger goals and purposes. I want to change that and you can be part of that change. My students need focus in their lives, purpose, values, and determination.

As we train and box, the overarching question is, "What are you fighting for?". We try to help define goals for the students so that boxing doesn't become a mechanism of violence, but a vehicle for striving to realize goals, a vehicle that strives to find purpose, and a vehicle that strives to strengthen will power, determination, and success. Boxing can also help lower the astounding rates of obesity and heart disease in my students' community. African Americans and Latinos are 1.6 times and 1.5 times more likely, respectively, to have diabetes than are whites. Boxing teaches hard work and can set students on a track of health consciousness so that they take better care of their bodies. Also, if students are engaged they are less likely to be part of risky sexual behavior. Our neighborhood ranks highly in New York City in teenage pregnancy and AIDS. If students are engaged they are more likely to strive and succeed in the match of life.

After 3 years of doing the program, I find that often times the students that drop out are those that need to be in the program the most. Some of them have actually joined gangs. I would love to see our students wearing their Strive sweatshirts rather than gang colored bandannas. Many join gangs for a sense of family and belonging, and I think these sweatshirts may provide a little of that feeling and help persuade some to stick with the program. They help provide something tangible that reminds them of their commitment, the sweat they've already sacrificed, and their dreams.

The program is after school, 3 times a week. The 1st hour is devoted to tutoring. The remaining hour and a half is devoted to physical fitness and boxing instruction. On Saturdays we devote a class to character building, goal setting and then we box. Many of us want inner city children to stay out of trouble, to do better, and to try harder. But rarely are they given the tools and motivation to do this. This is a drop in a pond that will hopefully ripple through these students' lives and help transform their futures. Please, let us get past empty rhetoric of underprivileged kids succeeding, and let's actually help them fight for their own futures. I think the requested shirts can not only be reminders to the Strivers themselves, but also a call to others to work harder, to try harder, and to dream higher. They are only shirts, but I think they will be an important addition to the success of this program. Thank you.