Recently, a high school teacher and friend of mine started thinking more carefully about the power dynamics in her classroom. With the current political situation in mind, she was worried that she was exerting too much control over what students were learning and when. Instead, her vision was to empower them to take charge of their own educational experience, better preparing them for school and beyond. essayservice.com She had her high school students brainstorming new ways to encourage students to be self-directed learners, working on projects related to social justice, being valued for who they are, and moving beyond identity politics. Some of her students, who came to her after the election, expressed sadness and frustration that they felt trapped in their current academic structures and found themselves unable to address their feelings of anger and confusion. And it was self-reflection that brought up a few more well-known Ramones songs: "Am I Racist?/ No!" and "I Am Rock 'n' Roll!" The fifth lesson came down to finding and creating the appropriate balance of academic self-worth versus musical self-worth. For me, although the self-worth of their choice of songwriting was undeniably worth mentioning, there were far more important moments at the pediatrician's. At the end of the day, there was a cross-gender identity crisis. Had they chosen the worse possible situation?