Welcome to One Little Victory!

Site Disclaimer:

This site contains personal information for the author, Rick Olshak, who wishes to proclaim that he created these posts between the hours of 10 pm and midnight while slamming 40s (of coffee) and watching old episodes of “Firefly.” All opinions are his own, except where they belong to Keith Olbermann, Jon Stewart, Steven Colbert, or anyone else who believes our current administration should be sent back to Kindergarten (public, no school vouchers). If you’re not hep with busting on the elephants, dissecting the trading strategies of the New England Patriots, or viewing jpegs of arguably the cutest children in the known universe, you’d probably be happier on a different site. Go there now, alrighty? Everyone else, welcome in! Drop Rick a line at olshak.rick (at) gmail (dot) com.

About Me:

My name is Rick, and I am a 44 year old displaced New Yorker (Capital District) living in the Midwest. How to describe me? Liberal & Libertarian, Father, Academic, Author, Believer that the two-party political system is failing America, “Card-carrying” member of the American Civil Liberties Union, Believer that human conscience gave birth to God - not the other way around. While I was raised and confirmed Catholic and still hold an affinity for the Church, I now consider myself agnostic but hold very strongly to the concepts of the Golden Rule and to a civil and just society, as well as to principles of social justice. I worked at Georgetown University for two and a half years out of graduate school and found the Jesuit ideals to be very consistent with my own beliefs and my commitment to student/human development theory, but ultimately I feel somewhat a-religious. I guess I am simply in a long-term process of self-discovery and open to wherever that leads me.

There are several reasons I blog. One, I am not great at journaling on a regular basis and this provides me the means for talking about things (or venting) as they take place in my life. I am someone who follows politics and enjoy blogging about this as well. However, regular readers know I don’t cover every important story, nor am I consistent about political blogging. That is because while I care deeply about what is taking place in this nation and in our world, it is mentally exhausting to continually write about the world. Mostly, this is because many events in the world evoke anger or outrage from me, and it is hard to stay angry for long… it is too much of an investment of emotional energy.

As long as I am dealing with why I blog, let me also go on a brief tangent. What I write here tends to be stream of consciousness. While my opinions evolve over time, the words being pounded onto the keyboard are exactly as they come out. They are, simply put, a snapshot in time, indicative of my opinion at that second. You will find, if you are a regular reader, that I tend to change or modify my opinion over time… I consider that to be a product of an open mind. But if you come here and find yourself offended over a comment or a post that I make and you feel the need to pass judgment on me as a result, then please move along to another stop on the information super-highway; there are plenty to choose from. Anyone believing that they understand “me” as a result of a few posts, or worse, think that they can somehow evaluate my professionalism based on my personal commentary, does not know me very well at all. I have unfortunately come across people who hold very narrow perspectives and who possess little tolerance for opinions other than their own. I refuse to change who I am to accommodate these people.

I am sometimes asked why an educator with a fairly public persona would wish to blog. The most simple explanation is that I, like many people, enjoy engaging in educated dialogue and debate. I enjoy my opinions, and in raising three children, it is important to me to raise children who will also speak their minds and stand up for what they believe in.

But that is truly the most simple answer, More broadly than that, I believe it is important that students see how to appropriately utilize the digital medium. This is not to say I am always appropriate from everyone else’s vantage point. But I attempt to use humor and sarcasm, as well as thoughtful writing, to try and analyze the world around me. Students are often criticized for posting stupid photos or tales of their exploits, but do any of us go online and stick our own necks out there? I do post my opinions here and hope students will see this as my willingness to publicly express myself and to be willing to be accountable for what I say and write. This, in my view, is an exercise in civic engagement, which is something I hold dear and something that I encourage in students. They should take an active interest in their world… it’s the only one they have. They don’t have to agree with what I write, just as I don’t have to agree with what they write, but we should defend each other’s ability to speak out publicly on the world we live in. It has been my experience that students from all walks of life and all perspectives seem to be able to “get” this point, and that offers me some hope.

Finally, I also blog to write about things I enjoy. My kids are the first thing that comes to mind here. Other topics range from sports to music to movies and books. Even the most casual reader will see that I am a diehard New England Patriots fan and have been one since 1976. I love all Boston sports, and am thrilled that I am finally cheering for teams that win on a consistent basis… it’s unusual for me to say the least. I am also a fan of good science fiction and fantasy, role-playing games, and many other things.

If you’d like to know more about me, or about my professional background, feel free to check me out at http://www.olshak.com.

Thanks for visiting; I hope you enjoy the blog.