"Just a Thought" Column continues in La Prensa of SA, 10-18

Just a Thought: “National Make a Difference Day”

By Steve Walker

October 24^th we celebrate “National Make a Difference Day,” a worldwide community service effort. The celebration was organized by USA Weekend Magazine, together with Points of Light, a charity which mobilizes and enables people to make a significant difference in people’s lives.

For more than two decades, the day has been the largest national day of community service. On the fourth Saturday of October, millions of volunteers around the world unite in a common mission to improve the lives of others. It was designed specifically to celebrate the power of people to contribute to changing the world in a positive way.

I was surprised to learn recently that there was actually a “National Make a Difference Day.“ When I reflect on my own life, speculating if I made a difference in this world, I wonder if I succeeded.  I think back on my former student’s lives, having taught in the public school system for 26 years, and I pause.

Back then, those students would share their dreams to make a difference, of wanting to be a doctor, nurse, policeman, or firefighter-- to be able to literally save lives and “make a difference.” How many La Prensa readers have at one time had those thoughts and never expressed them to anybody?

Now that we know there is a dedicated day to acknowledge those desires we have, we can celebrate along with millions around the world to make those differences a reality.

Recently one of my former 9^th graders at McCollum High School, Joseph Medina, was elected to the Northside School Board. I ran into him at an event just before he was elected. We reminisced and he told me I was one of his favorite teachers who made a difference in his life. I was thrilled to say the least.

San Antonio also is the home of numerous Latino Scholars who make a difference every day in people’s lives. Doctor Manny Berriozabal, UTSA Math Instructor is the Founder of the San Antonio Prefreshmen Engineering Program established in 1979. It has been extremely successful. His wife Maria, is a former SA Councilwoman who has made a difference in her own right. I have written on her more than once in my column.

Doctor Ellen Riojas Clark, a professor of bi-cultural, bilingual studies at UTSA since 1973, developed summer institutes on Latino Literature that have been very popular over the years with the Latino community. That makes a difference in numerous student’s lives.

Doctor Henry Flores, a political science professor at St. Mary’s University, graduate of Central Catholic and a Vietnam veteran like myself, is also known for his expertise in voting and civil rights. He is frequently sought out by the media for his observations on various local races in the election cycle. I have had the pleasure of visiting and sharing a cup of coffee with him on a number of occasions.

Although October 24^th is officially “National Make a Difference Day,” it doesn’t preclude the reader from making every day, a day to make a difference in somebody’s life.

As always, what I write is “Just a Thought.”

Steve Walker is a Vietnam Veteran, former Judge and Journalist.