In Utah, Pioneer Day is a big deal. It commemorates the day in 1847 when Brigham Young, the prophet of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, arrived in the US territory that is now Utah and declared, “This is the right place.” This came after traveling a treacherous 1000-mile escape from hostility and persecution in the wake of trying to establish a homeland in several other unwelcoming states.
Though Utah is largely recognized as being settled and colonized by immigrating members of the church, this 24th of July holiday is one that celebrates the pioneering spirit of ALL who immigrated to Utah during that defining era.
What connection do we have to the mid-1800’s bonnet-wearing, hand-cart-pulling, farmers and merchants from nearly 200 years ago? Perhaps more than feeling connected to the actual people who traveled that path leaving loved ones, belongings, and tears along the trail, we find ourselves drawn to the spirit of those people – the pioneering spirit.
In Noah Webster’s original 1828 dictionary, the definition of a pioneer is clear. “One that goes before to remove obstructions or to prepare the way for another.” While this definitely applies to the pioneers who trekked west looking for a place to establish a land of freedom and prosperity, it applies to so many more. The pioneers of invention, exploration, medical knowledge, and numberless areas of human understanding and discovery.
Here are just a few examples:
- Sir Alexander Fleming’s discovery of penicillin. “One sometimes finds what one is not looking for. When I woke up just after dawn on Sept. 28, 1928, I certainly didn’t plan to revolutionize all medicine by discovering the world’s first antibiotic, or bacteria killer. But I guess that was exactly what I did.”
- Nikola Tesla’s contributions to the modern alternating current electricity supply system. “Our virtues and our failings are inseparable, like force and matter. When they separate, man is no more.”
- Harriet Tubman’s mission to lead 300 slaves to their freedom over a ten-year period and 19 trips to the south. “I was the conductor of the Underground Railroad for eight years, and I can say what most conductors can’t say — I never ran my train off the track and I never lost a passenger.”
To be a pioneer, you must be courageous, determined, hardworking, tenacious, forward thinking, creative, flexible, and enterprising. You need to see opportunities that others cannot – and seize them!
The founding families at CHOICE are pioneers. They are brave, forward thinking people, willing to forgo the traditional public schooling and seize the opportunity of something completely new and different for their children. We created CHOICE to give our family and other families something that never existed before. It means stepping forward even when the path isn’t clear and it feels a little scary. It means making sacrifices and marking the unforgiving trail with some of our blood, sweat and tears. It means knowing there is something better ahead not only for us, but for those we leave behind and that we have the unique capacity to leave that mark on the world. At CHOICE, we not only feel like pioneers as we set out on our journey to open our school this year, but it is our mission to create pioneers. We all have it in us. We just need the courage to forge that path.
