By GUEST COMMENTARY BY MICHAEL BEATTIE
When I think about life-changing experiences that I have had in my life, I can probably count them on one hand.
They don’t come around often, and at the times when they happen I usually don’t recognize them, so I miss out. Recently, I had a life-changing experience that my way of viewing and understanding the world and my place was found in Santa Monica.
Last September when I was staying in The Turning Point Transitional Housing Program, I had the opportunity to become involved in an amazing, though little-known program supported through Antioch University called “the bridge program.” It is a nine-month interdisci-plinary course designed specifically to bring the college experience to those individuals who normally would never have the chance to participate in higher education. The poor, the low-income, the homeless, and those others in the invisible segments of our society who would never have the opportunity to have their voices heard.
The bridge program is free to those students accepted and includes books, supplies, tutors, child care, transportation, and a free catered meal before class. The next session starts in September and completes in June 2006. One of the greatest benefits is that you get to keep all the materials at the end of the year. If you complete the program, you are eligible to receive nine university credits from Antioch, although that is not required to participate.
The most wonderful aspect of the program is the way it is taught. It is taught by five university professors who all donate their time, and bring knowledge and understanding in ways that are just unique.
Unlike traditional college classes, there are no grades and no wrong answers. The classes are broken down into five disciplines: philosophy, history of democracy, art history, literature, and creative writing. Whereas in most college classes you may study the philosophy of Plato in one class but the renaissance period in art history. Bridge does this differently. When we start each semester, all classes are based on the same time period and this is where the students shine.
We study the writings of Aristotle and Plato, then we move to the history of democracy to study about the birth of Democracy in the Greek city states, then we jump to art and learn about the different statues and painting from the same period. We leap to reading Liysistrada, and finally study the academic writings of ancient Greek, Sparta and Rome. It continues like that in each semester.
The greatest aspect of the program of course is its students. Over my time in Bridge, I was able to see the growth of each of these students and myself in ways that I never expected. While developing critical thinking skills, over time, we became a learning community that respected each other and our varied opinions. Everyone grew in that time and I am confident that each one of them would agree with me.
Remember, these are homeless and poor people. You wouldn’t expect them to be ready for Shakespeare’s “King Lear,” or the poetry of Walt Whitman and Emily Dickson; the philosophy of Hobbes and John Locke describing the state of nature or the state of man; the Napoleonic artwork of David, or the writings of Maya Angilou, Martin Luther King, and Malcolm X. But we did.
We took field trips to the Getty to see some of the art we studied in class and also to the Washington Mutual Life building to see one of the largest collection of African-American art in the country. Because of the safe learning environment created by us, we can share our view and opinions in accordance with our individual beliefs. I have gained back my self-respect, self-worth and dignity through Bridge, something that I lost in my homeless condition. Bridge taught me that I do have a right to my opinion and that I do have a place in this world.
If you are interested in The Bridge Program or want to apply for the next session, log onto www.thebridgepro-gram.org.
I can guarantee that you will never be the same afterwards and it is the best decision that you will ever make. (Michael Beattie, formerly homeless in Santa Monica,)
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on August 25, 2005. Read the original PDF.