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What I Learned: Caleb Robinson
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I attended the public schools of Quitman County. With Quitman County not being the wealthiest strip of land, the ability to be formally educated was challenging. Educational materials and resources are expensive and our school systems often had to make do with what we had, whether it was outdated textbooks or constantly reusing the same editions. These conditions made a strong impact on us as a student body, some being positive and others not as much. For myself, it taught me a valuable lesson in life. It taught me to be humble. I learned that expenses are irrelevant when it comes to a real education. Knowledge is priceless and it takes time to obtain. If students are constantly inspired and motivated to seek that knowledge, then enduring the conditions of a lower level school would be a small price to pay. Like myself, they would already have learned the basic fundamentals and use that to go on an adventure to learn new things beyond the school walls. This was the greatest lesson that I learned attending Quitman County School District and I apply it to my daily life to this day.
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Caleb Robinson is from Falcon, Mississippi. He attended Quitman County public schools and graduated in 2014. He is attending the University of Mississippi and will graduate in 2019.
Sermon Preached by the Rev. Jody Burnett St. Peter’s Episcopal Church in Oxford, MS Sixth Sunday of Easter, Year A – May 21, 2017
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Excerpted from sermon:
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Would we be willing to cut our hours and reduce our expenses – to learn how to live with less – if it meant for sure that we could invest more into the relationships that mean the most to us?
Since we are God’s offspring, we ought not to think that the deity is like gold, or silver, or stone.”
For Peter, love is understood – not as a feeling or an achievement or an experience – but rather as a conscious set of actions and habit of life.
When we love ourselves the way that God intends: we cultivate inner strength and beauty, and we don’t allow fear or jealousy to animate what we do and how we live.
We listen for the clear direction of the Holy Spirit, and we respond in faith when we’re called to risk something big for something good.
And when we love others the way God intends: we show ourselves in our daily conduct to be what we have in fact made to be by the grace of God – forgiven and renewed.
We work towards shaping environments of intimacy and trust – through calm but confident interactions with others – by supporting and lifting up those around us.
“I cannot believe that the purpose of life is to be happy,” wrote journalist Leo Rosten.
“I think the purpose of life is to be useful, to be responsible, to be compassionate. It is, above all to matter, to count, to stand for something, to have made some difference that you lived at all.”
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Growing Up in Marks, MS: Dr. Louis Saddler, Jackson, MS
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An Ancient African Proverb stated it takes a village to raise to raise a child. Marks, MS was my village. I was blessed to have caring, hard working parents and siblings. My neighbors and family friends were interested in my well being. I had the good fortune of having extraordinary teachers and counselors. Growing up in Marks provided an environment where I was able to grow, learn and succeed despite poverty and discrimination barriers during that time period.
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Dr. Louis Saddler is from Marks, Mississippi. He attended Quitman County public schools, and undergraduate studies at Gustavus Adolphus College in St. Peter, MN, and Harvard University. He attended medical school at Howard University and completed his internship and residency at the University of Mississippi Medical Center. He is currently in practice with St. Dominic Hospital Internal Medicine Group in Jackson, MS.