My buddy Dana — the same wonderful human who started my healing fundraiser when I was struggling through chemo — is organizing a life-changing service trip to Oaxaca, Mexico, with a group of her high school Spanish students. And they need your help!

In June, Dana and a couple of chaperones (hopefully including myself!) will lead a delegation of future leaders to spend ten days volunteering with Oaxaca Streetchildren, a grassroots nonprofit that educates, feeds and cares for over 650 children, most of whom live in extreme poverty in this struggling area of Mexico.

…If you caught my last post, you saw that I just celebrated my 37th birthday (while on an overnight train in northern Finland, no less)! Over the next few weeks, as I settle back into life at home, I’ll be integrating my experience and sharing stories and media from the road (to augment the brief photo chronicles I’ve already shared on Instagram and Facebook).

For now, though — as I pivot somewhat abruptly to Back-to-School Mode — I wanted to take the opportunity to share a video of a very special occasion that took place earlier this summer.

Watch the video

As I cross the finish line of Round 3 of chemo (in humble and groundless uncertainty of what's to come), I wanted to celebrate this moment of graduation by sharing a video of the commencement address that I offered to the graduating class of 2021 at the high school where I've taught for the last three years, Quest Forward Academy in Santa Rosa, CA.

When I gave this speech at the ceremony in June, I was in a great deal of back pain, and I didn't know why. Less than a week later, I would be admitted to the local emergency room, where I would learn through a CT scan of the testicular cancer recurrence I've been battling and dancing with ever since.

The theme of the speech is finding our wings by jumping into the abyss.

When the pandemic hit in the spring semester of 2020, our Academy was uniquely situated to prosper and thrive (all things considered). As a small school with an amazing team, we had already demonstrated the institutional grit and agility to weather unexpected phenomena. In recent years, we endured together the wildfires, floods, and outages that seem so endemic to modern life.

I don’t know that I decided to become a teacher so much as I was born one. What inspired me to deepen my teaching, though, was becoming a father. As my innate provider mechanism kicked in, I began looking for opportunities to serve in a meaningful way while also being the best father I could be. Teaching and parenting are such wonderfully complementary occupations!

This fall at Quest Forward Academy Santa Rosa, Exploration Phase students have spent the bulk of their English and Social Science classes exploring themes related to the natural world. These classes included a diverse array of topics, from westward expansion and indigenous land management to the literature of Jack London and the contemporary film Gattaca. Like other Quest Forward classrooms, students applied their knowledge with relevant and remarkable hands-on experiences.