Today is Thanksgiving in the United States, a holiday we mark usually by cooking and communing with family and friends. It is also traditional, when gathered, to share the things we are thankful for.

We are thankful for our students and partners — from whom we also learn and through whom our work derives value.

We are thankful for the generosity of those who have shared their materials with the world under open licenses — you make our courses possible.

We are thankful for each of the many individuals and organizations throughout the world working to create access to education — the solutions will not come from any single effort, but may come from combined efforts.

We are thankful to those who roll up their sleeves and work every day to build the world they want to live in.

We are thankful to those who persist in the face of obstacles to education. At Saylor Academy, we usually talk about the obstacles of time, money, and geography, but there are many others, more serious, that lay their burdens on people unequally:

Insufficient infrastructure. Overwhelming obligations. Lack of access to technology. Illness. Disability. Conflict. Displacement. Hunger. Oppression. Fear. Isolation. Division. Uncertainty. Instability. Censorship. Discrimination.

The list goes on.

Against every imaginable obstacle, small or large, there is a Saylor Academy student somewhere contending for a better future.

We are mindful that for most, education is not a right freely exercised but an often-inaccessible privilege. Though we pause now for a few days of reflection and gratitude, we know there is much work to do.

We are deeply thankful for the opportunity to take on a share. And, dear reader, we are thankful for you.