Break Down the Walls

AUSTIN - I'm busy… I don’t have time to get involved… why should I care?

First: You might be president (of something) one day.

President Lyndon B. Johnson knew the importance of hands-on experience. It sticks with you, and you never know when you might be in a position to change the world for the better.

In Johnson’s “We shall overcome” speech to a joint session of Congress on voting legislation, he talked about the impact his teaching at a small Mexican-American school in Cotulla, Texas, had on him. “They never seemed to know why people disliked them," he said. "But they knew it was so, because I saw it in their eyes. I often walked home late in the afternoon, after the classes were finished, wishing there was more that I could do…I never thought then, in 1928, that I would be standing here in 1965. It never even occurred to me in my fondest dreams that I might have the chance to help the sons and daughters of those students and to help people like them all over this country. But now I do have that chance -- and I'll let you in on a secret -- I mean to use it."

Second: There’s no substitute.

Getting to know the community you live in — for however short or long you stay in that place — is an invaluable experience. In President Johnson’s case, it led to passage of America’s hallmark civil rights legislation.

To find out why students should educate themselves outside of the classroom, I called on former LBJ Dean and State Senator Max Sherman. He gave a practical reason of concern to most students: It will help you get ahead.

Sherman sits on the board of the Truman Foundation and noted that there is a “hands-on” experience requirement for applicants. But more than upward mobility, he focused on the special way it impacts and shapes your life and the lives of those around you.

"There is no substitute for the learning gained from getting out in the real world, seeing what really goes on in people’s lives, and putting your arm around someone to let them know you care," he said.

When I asked what the LBJ School can do to break down the walls of the classroom that separate us from the real world, he told me: “The very nature of LBJ is not necessarily to break down the walls, but to build bridges over those walls to connect the academic work we do to real problems, to real people trying to get by day-to-day”.

As an LBJ student, I can say it’s the reason I love the school, but we could always be doing more.

Third: It’s good for the soul.

In that vein, I decided to get in touch with someone who probably couldn’t be doing more than he already is. I called up Austin citizen David Kobierowski, who left his lucrative job in his 30s to become a full-time activist. Asked what made him leave thesix-figure salary to commit to his community 24/7, he told me: “I liked my corporate career, but I love what I'm doing now. Non-profit community radio, non-commercial public TV, and community activism and volunteerism fills my soul."

David went on to explain how it’s not only good for personal growth, but souls en masse. David said: "I really understood the significance of community involvement when my neighborhood came together to fight Trammel Crowe’s plans to demolish and develop one of our neighborhood’s affordable housing complexes. People who usually don’t come together — because of different political parties, ages, classes, and races — came together for the common good. Finally, City Hall and the developer decided to keep the affordable housing complex. We are all in a better place because of this result and the process it took to get there”.

If you aren’t already involved in community issues, following Austin’s mayoral and council races is a great place to start. Informed voters are the crux of a healthy democracy. And once you start to follow along, even just a little, you’ll realize something.

We need your involvement. And you need it, too.
 

Kate Mason is a graduate student at The University of Texas at Austin LBJ School of Public Affairs with an interest in urban and state affairs. She is a member of the C.L.A.S.S. student group at LBJ. She can be reached by email at katemmason@gmail.com.