Did you hear the one about Icarus? I’m sure everyone has. The low-life dreamer put on his wings of wax and flew too close to the sun and that was that. Yep. Heard the one about Icarus. Though, I never thought I’d know Icarus. I never thought, I’d look up to Icarus and watch high above as his wings melted and his winds came crashing down. But I did. And the scene is different today. His shadow isn’t in front of the sun anymore, there are no animal farm rules painted on the dry wall of the classroom. There are no utterances of the three word, single syllable word starting with an M and ending in a Z that came to define rigor and also guidance. When I first met Icarus, he was flying high. His reputation was impeccable and his wings had on them a patina of accolade. The wax was holding. He found me at my time of wayward word-smithing and he gave me (for the first time) a sense that I had talent in writing. His witty comments always made a graded paper into a detailed critique and his wry wit was ever present. He presided over the classroom, catching each student in the sky. He uttered from his throne “I am Icarus!”, “I shall help you.” And for a long time that was commonplace. The time and place wore on, Icarus led his class and each student aspired to push the boundaries of what they thought possible. Fly Icarus Fly. But of course, we’ve all heard the one about Icarus. Icarus comes crashing down. What caused the wings of the lovely Icarus to melt into a downy tomb? In the one we’ve all heard, it was the sun. But the Icarus I knew, no one knows what caused him to tumble into the abyss all it had was the name “sexual harassment” Furthermore the Icarus I knew is still alive. He must sit at the loneliest point and lookup at the highest point of the sun. He must watch all of those he helped to fly, fly above him. They will not look up to him anymore, why would they? They’re higher, flying more swiftly, just as Icarus taught. Oh Icarus, Oh Icarus. you’ve heard that one before.

When the sun is ever approaching, who will you look up to? Who will you let challenge you? Can there be a hero as great as Icarus without his plight? All of our heroes become Icarus in the end. Still we fly.