Ben Lewellyn-Taylor

Soundtrack to My Year, 2017 (vol. 5)

Post author By Ben Lewellyn-Taylor
Post date December 29, 2017
3 Comments on Soundtrack to My Year, 2017 (vol. 5)

2017 was full of personal growth and joy in the midst of a revealing and painful year for our society. The albums that provided the soundtrack to my year reflect those two poles, with much of what I listened to providing a prophetic voice for troubled times.

This is also my fifth year noting my favorite albums in a year, so I took some time to see how my past years lined up with my current view on the albums listed then. In 2013, almost every album stayed in my rotation, but in 2014, only three did. I was mostly right about 2015, and last year, in 2016, I would go back and move Solange and ScHoolboy Q up to the spots right under Frank Ocean. We’ll see how this year stacks up, but for now, here are the albums that provided the soundtrack to my year.

Interview

Walking the Talk: A Conversation With Tash

Post author By Ben Lewellyn-Taylor
Post date February 21, 2017
1 Comment on Walking the Talk: A Conversation With Tash

I Walk With Natasha March, Baylor University (Photograph by Marissa Elaine Photography)

Since I left my teaching position last summer to pursue my Master’s in Theological Studies, I have struggled to find a new route to take with this blog. Over the course of my three years in the classroom, it slowly turned into my reflections on teaching. The intent was always to make this a space to inspire people with stories, and I’ve been thinking recently of how to do so through others’ voices, especially millenials who often receive undue criticism and baseless stereotypes that seek to degrade us while we work to become who we are in this world.

I asked Natasha (Tash) Nkhama, a former student, to share her insights about an incident that happened in her first semester at Baylor. Our conversation is below.

Music

Soundtrack to My Year, 2016 (vol. 4)

Post author By Ben Lewellyn-Taylor
Post date January 6, 2017
3 Comments on Soundtrack to My Year, 2016 (vol. 4)

Every year, I like to reflect on the albums that got me through the year. In 2016, I spent more time trying to listen than talk, and I felt these albums offered the space for me to reflect and understand the nuances of the experience of others. Each title links to where you can purchase directly from the artist (in most cases), and a few of them are even free.

Tags albums, beyonce, bon iver, chance the rapper, frank ocean, hidden figures, kanye west, music, noname, pharrell, radiohead, saba, schoolboy q

Teaching

Identity: Capable

In the fall semester of 2015, I started a Master’s program in school counseling. Three months later, I hated it. I felt I was pursuing this path because it seemed like the logical next step in my career. My life has never followed a “logical next step” trajectory, and it felt dishonest to who I am as a person. I don’t say that to discount the wonderful work of counselors, just that it isn’t for me. I couldn’t see myself as a counselor ten years out, and that’s not a good start to a two-year program.

Three months is not long to decide to quit graduate school. You can imagine my embarrassment when family and friends asked how my first semester went, and only months after telling them I was going back to school, I was telling them I wouldn’t be returning for a second semester. When I cited that “my heart wasn’t in it,” I could see older adults give me that generational side-eye reserved for millennials perpetually “figuring it out.”

Tags education, encouragement, identity, inspiration, kids, school, students, teaching

Teaching

Shadow Living

I recently turned 25, which is an age that seems like it would come with some additional amount of withheld wisdom or at least a senior discount at the movie theater, but so far has only made my students react with wide eyes and the confidence-building question, “But weren’t you really young when you started teaching us?” It’s been quite the ride.

In my 25 years on this earth, I haven’t ascribed much significance to ages. I didn’t start driving until I was 18. 21 didn’t find me at a bar. 22 did not feel like one of the Taylor Swift’s nights on the town. By all accounts, significant moments in my life haven’t come attached to specific ages.

Tags bravery, bully, bullying, courage, forgiveness, grace, love, self-love

Teaching

Being Brave

When I tell people I teach in Oak Cliff, I am frequently met with the same response. “You’re so brave,” they say. Occasionally they will add some variation of, “It must be so tough to teach those kids.”

It is an infuriating response. These are children whom I love, and this person who has never met them or heard a single story about them already assumes they are tough to teach, difficult to reach, and easy to label. And—amidst these kids’ impossibility—I am a brave soul for choosing to teach them.

Tags brave, bravery, courage, education, inspiration, teaching

Music

Soundtrack to My Year, 2015 (vol. 3)

Post author By Ben Lewellyn-Taylor
Post date December 31, 2015
2 Comments on Soundtrack to My Year, 2015 (vol. 3)

Music in 2015 was good to me. I like to reflect on the albums that impacted me over the course of a year to understand myself, and others, better. Continuing my yearly tradition, here are my top albums and what they meant to me.

Tags album of the year, albums, beach house, between the world and me, death cab for cutie, florence and the machine, kendrick lamar, leon bridges, modest mouse, music, sufjan stevens, ta-nehisi coates, the weekend, travis scott, tv on the radio, vince staples

Teaching

That’s Progress

Growing up, I remember when my friends would tell me that they got paid $10 per A on their report cards. Some of their parents paid them on a scale, and even doled out $5 per B. Some of my friends were stacking up $80 every grading cycle, and I envied them for it. They were getting rewarded for something my parents expected of me.

Tags failure, pride, progress, shame, staar, students, success, teacher, teaching, test

Music

The Grammys, Kanye, Racism, and Us

Post author By Ben Lewellyn-Taylor
Post date February 11, 2015
10 Comments on The Grammys, Kanye, Racism, and Us

On Sunday I gathered with a small number of friends to watch my second favorite awards show of the year (the Oscars take first prize). As one of said friends described, the Grammys are the equivalent—in fact, superior—to most national holidays for me.

Tags album of the year, beck, beyonce, blacklivesmatter, grammys, itsonus, kanye, kanye west, katy perry, media, pharrell, race

Uncategorized

Soundtrack to My Year, 2014 (vol. 2)

Post author By Ben Lewellyn-Taylor
Post date January 1, 2015
6 Comments on Soundtrack to My Year, 2014 (vol. 2)

My greatest love is for music, but I rarely write about it because it’s hard to write about something you’ll only end up gushing over. However, last year I started a tradition of sharing my favorite albums of the year. Here are the 10 (plus a few) albums that shaped 2014.