Erin Gruwell

Gruwell with her fellow Freedom Writers. (http://www.scusd.edu/e-connections-post/freedom-wr ())

An English teacher about to begin her career meets one-hundred and fifty students- all of which are at risk of failing school, and have negative influences affecting their lives. No one would have imagined that English teacher would be able to connect with those students on a deeper level, and relieve them of their hardships. Guiding them from danger to safety, despair to happiness, and negligence to success, Erin Gruwell has managed to change the lives of her students and their futures. In her early years, Gruwell aspired to promote human rights and change the world (HAGLUND). However, all of that was put aside as Gruwell became a teacher at Woodrow Wilson High School in 1994, ready to step into the world of teaching ("The freedom writers" Instructor). Her students were considered hopeless, and unteachable due to their exposure poverty, gangs, and murders at an early age. During class one day, Gruwell recognized a racial caricature being passed among students of a known trouble-maker at school ("The Freedom Writers." Scholastic Action). Gruwell took this incident as an opportunity, and taught them about the Holocaust and other tragedies of history. Throwing aside the old curriculum set for English, Gruwell set out a new way to inform her students. She brought out books such as Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl, and connected them to the dangerous lives of her students showing that others, like them, had faced the same predicaments and anguish. Feeling safe and no longer alone, these students graduated high school and later, college. A heroic figure must demonstrate the courage to do what is best for others, and the determination to see it through. Erin Gruwell's willingness to help her students in spite of their hostility, and resolve to support them so they become successful show her courage and determination that make her a hero.

Gruwell's continued support towards her students, despite them and other teachers putting her down, make her courageous. Already in the early stages of her career, Gruwell was immediately confronted by a frightening student whom she described in her diary:

He was a junior, a disciplinary transfer from Wilson's crosstown rival, and his reputation preceded him.  Word was that he had threatened his previous English teacher with a gun (which I later found out was only a plastic water gun, but it had all the makings of a dramatic showdown). In those first few minutes, he made it brutally clear that he hated Wilson, he hated English, and he hated me. His sole purpose was to make his 'preppy' student teacher cry. (Gruwell 2)

For Gruwell, who had just began teaching and was looking for a promising future, this student was a scary barrier she had to overcome. He had every intention of making her career miserable, and after hearing about his past encounters, she could have left and headed for a safer, more manageable school. Instead, Gruwell remained and continued to help him and other students, later breaking the wall of hatred between and being able to work with them. This willingness to help those who were trying to ruin her career, even though there was an easy way out of the situation, makes Gruwell courageous. During the hardships of helping her students, Gruwell was also subject to anger from her jealous peers:

Erin faced many challenges, from resistant students to resistant colleagues and school administrators. It was no easy task to transform the lives of these students, and in the times of hardship it would have been easy for Erin to give up, to quit and find an easier school, an easier job. (Gray)

While trying to help her students, Gruwell faced other obstacles along the way: teachers and staff, all jealous of her success while working with the "hopeless" students. Gruwell found that students alone were difficult to support, but the negativity from other teachers who should have been working with her was another struggle she faced. Leaving Wilson would have been an especially easy choice. Students and teachers disliked her, creating a toxic and environment every time she stepped foot into the school. However, she remained because she realized her students would not have succeeded being with teachers whose actions were provoked by their jealous emotions. She willingly moved past the anger of her peers and students so she could continue to teach, and her students' success was achieved. This demonstrated Gruwell's courage to stand up for what was best for others. Gruwells strength and willingness to help her students against hatred, even though she could have left and avoided all troubles, makes her a courageous and heroic teacher.

Gruwell enjoying what she loves to do. (http://www.freedomwritersfoundation.org/index.php/programs/teachers)

Erin Gruwell's persistence and strong mindset towards helping her students to be successful makes her a determined individual. After hearing from teachers and parents who had dealt with the students in danger of failing, Gruwell in her personal diary stated,

Even though a lot of people have given up on them, I refuse to believe they're a lost cause. Judging by the turnout at 'Back to School Night,' it makes me wonder if some of the parents have thrown up their hand as well. Even though their reading scores don't indicate that they're 'smart' in the conventional sense, it's amazing how savvy they are. (Gruwell 31)

Gruwell, having personally been teaching those students, understood how the frustrated parents and teachers felt. Even so, Gruwell continued to look for the positive areas in their academics. This showed determination because many who had given up would have ignored the good traits the students possessed, and assumed they would fail. However, Gruwell focused on their positive aspects because she was trying to figure out where she could start with them to bring them success. While others lost hope, she remained adamant about figuring out where she can begin to help her students, showing her determined personality. In order to make sure her students understood about the Holocaust, Gruwell wanted to give them a visual experience of it through a field trip. However, she was faced with a problem:

Following up on her pledge to take the students to the Museum of Tolerance, she was told there were no funds for field trips. Although feeling thwarted, she used her sense of frustration to make a difference in the lives of her students; her response was that she'd find a way to pay for busses, the museum tickets, and lunches herself at a cost amounting to about $1,000. (qtd. in Smollar)

Although many would have felt defeated after hearing the costs to attend the trip, Gruwell was different. She was determined to make sure her students succeeded and passed school, which fueled her persistence to gain the funds necessary for the trip through extra jobs and chores. This perseverance to push aside discouraging obstacles to bring about happiness and success to others makes Gruwell a determined individual. During her teachings, Gruwell was not the only one frustrated. Confusing and difficult school work also angered students. However, that never tore Gruwell away from teaching: "Erin wrote, 'After hearing, 'Ms. G, this doesn't have anything to do with my life,' more than once, I made it my mission to prove my students wrong by finding ways to make my lessons speak to their experiences and tap into their talents'" (Gray). Seeing as it was her job to teach students about concepts so they can be used in their future, hearing a student ask what it had to do with her life was discouraging to her. While many teachers would have been angered by this, Gruwell instead looked for a way to help her student. By doing so, she had managed to connect students with old texts, therefore leading to their understanding of school material. She was determined to make sure her students succeeded, as shown when she tried to find ways to help them instead of leaving them in defeat from failing school. Gruwell's perseverance and resolve so for her students to achieve success, despite all of the discouragement and struggles she had to face, make her determined teacher.

Gruwell opening up to her students. (http://www.heraldnet.com/news/after-tough-year-wri ())

Gruwell's tenacity through hatred and persistence in helping her students demonstrate her courage and determination, qualities which a hero possesses. Gruwell was despised by them for many reasons, while other teachers became jealous after she became successful in her early teaching career. Even so, she courageously continued to teach her students even when there were times when quitting was an easy option. Gruwell was faced with many problems: ranging from students who gave up trying in school, to financially supporting field trips. Her determination to help her students helped her, as she found ways to solve those otherwise impossible to fix problems. One student, after a long journey with Gruwell as her teacher, stated her regret in a diary:

We've come a long way since our days of race riots and Proposition 187 walkouts, though. I look back and I can't believe the way we used to be with Ms. G. We used to do anything and everything to try to break her, and when we thought she was broken, she would prove us wrong. (Gruwell 269)

Gruwell faced numerous peers and students who resisted her efforts stated that they were jealous of her, or hated school.  She inspired others by pushing through the negativity, and managed to accomplish something no others dared or even tried to do. Not only that, but she had also shown that sometimes, people required a second chance to redeem themselves. Teachers and parents had all given up on their students, leading them towards their failure. However, Gruwell gave them that second chance. Slowly but surely, she reached her students and brought them out of their sadness and recusancy. Erin Gruwell inspires me because she has demonstrated that anyone, no matter who they are or what they've done in the past, can change. However, in order for people to change, someone must step up and put in the hard-work and patience to bring them from despair. For her students, Erin Gruwell was the one who stepped up. She faced countless discouraging obstacles, which she could have yielded to. However, persistence pushed past whatever came her way and she managed to achieve success in helping her students. Erin Gruwell was the teacher that no one would have expected to make great change to countless students. Even while receiving emotional criticism and discouragement in her early years of teaching, Erin Gruwell is now the inspiring and heart-lifting figure that everyone turns to if they feel hopeless or lost.

Works Cited

Gray, Stephanie. "Erin Gruwell: The Teacher Who Inspired Change." 10 February 2012,

https://www.endthekilling.ca/blog/2012/02/10/erin-gruell-teacher-who-inspired-change.

Accessed 2 May 2017.

Gruwell, Erin. The Freedom Writers Diary: How a Teacher and 150 Teens Used Writing to  

Change Themselves and the World Around Them. Random House, 1999, pp. 2-269.

HAGLUND, ELAINE. "WHAT'S RIGHT WITH EDUCATION? ERIN GRUWELL'S

RECONNECTING THE DISCONNECTED." Education, vol. 119, no. 2, 1998, p. 300. Biography in Context, link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A53985386/BIC1?u=powa9245&xid=788502f8. Accessed 28 Apr. 2017.

Smollar, D. "Teaching with Tolerance and Tears for Student Success." California State

University Review, vol. 24, no. 2, 1998, pp. 8-9.

"The Freedom Writers." Scholastic Action, vol. 22, no. 14, 10 May 1999, p. 6. EBSCOhost,

search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=prh&AN=2009838&site=ehost-live.

Accessed 1 May 2017.

"The freedom writers: some considered her class a lost cause, but in her first year of teaching,

Erin Gruwell transformed her students into a community of writers." Instructor [1990], Nov.-Dec. 2004, p. 27+. Student Resources in Context, link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A126749050/SUIC?u=powa9245&xid=ba17a6f1. Accessed 27 Apr. 2017.