When you start a new job, there is often a probationary period to see whether you are a fit for the company and you have the diligence to succeed. In life, our probation period starts every morning, trying to uphold social norms while interacting with others.
For me, keeping a positive outlook on displaced emotions when I am stereotyped is a daily obstacle. I take every opportunity to learn and maintain my skill level in order to advance more quickly. But it seems as if people either don’t believe in what I can do, or are afraid of it.
Too often I have encountered individuals with the same skills as me who treat me negatively when they see what I can do. Honestly, education sometimes seems like what others fear when competing with you in the workforce.
How can we as homeless individuals change people’s mindsets?
I keep working in school and at both my jobs to progress and bring forth the best me, to be marketable and employed. But not everyone can see the positive trajectory. Some people don’t see past my homelessness.
While you are homeless, you can become very depressed over your situation. We don’t pass the blame. If our behaviors contributed to our homelessness, we accept responsibility. Most of us are plagued with economic burdens that were a factor in our lack of a dwelling. The emotions of what was lost prior to homeless keep us in a dark state. But it’s important not to lose hope, and to use the light left within us to guide us back to being great again.
How do you respond to closed minds? When is your work enough to be accepted by society? Where is the line between different perspective and ignorance?
When you call me “homeless” and say “all I do is beg,” there is a fundamental problem with your perception. When someone judges your worth by perceived “social status,” how do we break that judgement down and respond to it? Not on the same level, but with a more mature demeanor.
Hardship has a lot of elements to it. The word itself can be an experience or an adjective. But it can only truly be described by the individual(s) who have experienced it. Hardship is allowed to exist and perpetuate because too many people are judgmental and passive. They think they can’t help, or that you deserve your struggle.
Being able to stand strong and endure downgrading events builds character. It clears the way for a brighter future, as long as you don’t let an unethical or negative disposition consume you along the way.
Leaders make ethical choices, and that’s what I strive to do: to be a model. Progress is the proper choice to make when odds are not in your favor. I will continue to demonstrate positivity and work ethic that rises above superficial social status — above what others may think.
If more people did this, we could progress as a great society.
I write this series to show what opportunities exist for people experiencing homelessness and to answer questions you might have about the challenges I have faced, homeless, employed and enrolled in higher education in our nation’s capital.
