I am the force...

Each day when I come home I am now checking the news with trepidation, sondering what todays events are. Today in Trump-land more conversation happened about The Wall,  $15 bilion dollar endeavor that US citizens will pay for. Along the border between the US and Mexico lies almost 200 miles of space, some near cities and others in the desert, where, currently, there are fences and walls already dividing the continent, dividing families.

Think what the United States could do with $15 billion dollars...fund schools, increase social services to those in need, fight poverty, provide housing to the homeless. Fifteen billion dollars...lets think about that for a moment...let's think about the vastness of that money. I can't even fathom. Building a wall just means that those who are trying to leave Mexico will build a higher ladder, save more money to pay the Coyotes to cross in more dangerous places, risking their lives even more.

A companion of this travesty is the idea that DACA, the dreamer act, may be left to expire. Families that risked their lives coming to the United States, with their small children in tow, hoping to create a better life for them, now have to worry about whether they and the children may be deported. Remember that DACA participants register with the government. They disclose where they live and, if they move, disclose this as well. They are rewarded with a pathway to a green card, a work permit, and some of the freedoms that allow them to live a (somewhat) legal life.

What does this all mean? What if the wall is built, the money wasted, the United States separating themselves more and more from the world. What does this mean for our future? It seems bleak. I am trying not to look into the future and feel worried and sad for myself, my children, my students. I need to refocus and try to make a plan...

I am going to take guidance from Star Wars. To quote Chirrut, the incredible blind warrior from Rogue One, the mantra that will need to guide me for the next four years, "I am one with the Force. The Force is with me."

I am hoping that this mantra will keep us all safe...We are the one with the Force...the Force is with us...keep repeating together. We will make it...