Caroline Center certified pharmacy technician candidate Keah M. just celebrated the mid-point in her 15-week education and career training program at Caroline Center – the eagerly awaited Halfway Hurrah, a longstanding Caroline Center tradition.
At 31 years of age, Keah is as committed as anyone you could ever meet to achieving a significant professional and personal goal – a rewarding new career with opportunities for advancement and a better life. For Keah, and for many other Caroline Center trainees, life has not always been this promising. Felt this focused. Been this freeing.
One of the qualities we admire most in Caroline Center trainees is their relentless courage. We respect that women who seek a Caroline Center education and who choose to pursue it come from very different places in life’s unpredictable journey. We appreciate that each
woman is uniquely herself.
And, we admire every woman for her steadfast courage – the kind of courage that has quite literally kept her in life and allowed her to reach the day when she boldly crosses a threshold – from what used to be to what she now knows is entirely possible and so deeply deserved.
For Keah, this courage found expression in an original poem she wrote, 30 Years a Slave – a poem so powerful that we were hoping she would agree to share it with readers in The Breakroom.
Sometimes, we don’t know how strong we are until we begin to listen. Not to what others are saying about us. Not to what others are saying to us. But, to ourselves.
So much good can happen. So much growth can happen. If we would only listen to ourselves.
30 Years a Slave
For 30 years, I was a slave
For 30 years, I was in captivity
For 30 years, I’ve worn these orange and pinstriped suits
My commissary was filled with scraps that were thrown at me
Scraps of judgement
Scraps of contempt
Scraps of disappointment
Scraps of expectations that I would never meet
My shackles were bound to my heart and mind
I was sentenced to a lifetime of hard time
My shackles were carved of others’ opinions and goals
Somewhere deep in my mind there was a hidden key
For 30 years I’ve been told who I wanted to be
And who I would be
Be a doctor, be a lawyer, be a teacher, they said
Be a cook, be a childcare provider, be a hairstylist
Dress like this, dress like that
Wear your hair this way
Don’t get tattoos; don’t get piercings
When you walk, don’t let your hips sway
Eat your veggies, eat your fruit
Minimize your carb intake
Because there ain’t nothing cute about being overweight
Go to college for years and years and years
Even if you hate it
It’s the only way you will survive
Talk like this, talk like that
Don’t use slang
Stop listening to rap
For 30 years, I was a slave
I was a prisoner
I was confined
To my mind
TO THE WORLD’S EXPECTATIONS
To mommy’s and daddy’s expectations
30 years I was a slave
But then I turned 31
And I realized
I’m the only one who has to live this life
I’m the only one suffering from these lies
That I tell myself
In order to meet the expectations of others
So, I broke free from my chains and my soul drainers
From my dream murderers
And my happiness takers
30 years I was a slave
But at 31 I got brave
I finally opened my ears to listen to myself
And myself chose my opinions
And myself chose my expectations
And myself chose to be happy with myself
To be happy with my decisions good or bad
To be happy with my life
And myself chose to be here
At Caroline Center
Learning medications, math, and prescriptions
Anatomy, physiology, and computer skills too
I’m learning how to walk, to talk, to be professional
For 30 years I was a slave
But at 31, I chose my own opinions
I chose my own feelings
I chose my own path
I chose my own dream
I chose my own destiny
And finally . . . I chose myself
30 Years a Slave was written by Caroline Center pharmacy technician candidate Keah M. and we are pleased to be able to publish it in The Breakroom with her permission. Many thanks to Keah for being a guest writer in this edition of The Breakroom.
