You Never Know

If you have read much of my blog, you know that something I am incredibly guilty of is complaining about my job as a teacher. It is often very hard to deal with the attitudes of junior high students. It's very easy to get frustrated and to think you're a failure as a teacher. I have my gripes with the school that I am at, the teaching staff and the administration. But, the one thing that really, truly makes my time worthwhile there are the relationships I form with the students.

There are a couple students who graduated last year who email me every now and then and let me know how high school is going for them. And, many former students stop in to see me pretty regularly just to say hi and to tell me about the "A" they got in English class or their victory on the soccer field. I feel so honored and blessed to be part of these students' lives, still, even after they have graduated.

My first year teaching, when I was the 7th grade homeroom teacher, I worked my butt off to help an especially troubled student, Gabriel. I thought I had made a breakthrough with him, and then the end of the year rolled around, and he ended up getting suspended the 2nd to last day of school because of a situation that occurred in my classroom. He didn't come back to the school the next year. I was worried about how he would fare in the public school system, and truly I felt like I had failed him.

His grandfather worked at the school though, so he came on campus every now and then with his grandfather that year, and those times he was there he was very rude and disrespectful to me. Again, I thought I had failed him, miserably. I was very upset about it.

And then this year arrived, and one day Gabriel was on campus again. He came to talk to me after school. He told me he had gotten caught with marijuana; he was in danger of being expelled. He was on campus with his grandfather for an entire week, and he stopped in to see me every single day, just to talk. Then one day he wasn't there anymore. But, his grandfather stopped me and thanked me for taking the time to talk to and spend with his grandson that week. He said it had meant a lot to Gabriel.

Gabriel didn't end up getting expelled. The high school gave him a second chance.

Today, I went to school to tie up the loose ends there, and Gabriel showed up at my door about 5 minutes after I got there. He wanted to tell me about the good grades he was getting, and how he has turned things around at school. He's staying out of trouble. He's really proud of himself he said, and so is his mom. He also came to ask me if he could borrow that book I had told him about...

I am so very proud of Gabriel, too.

And then there is Victor. Victor was the sweet, adorable 6th and 7th grader who turned into the angry, in-trouble-all-the-time, failing classes 8th grader. He thought I was out to get him. He thought I hated him. I tried so hard to get the message across to him that I cared about him and wanted the best for him. I didn't think I ever got that message across.

Until graduation morning.

The 7th graders put on a breakfast for the graduating 8th graders in which they each gave a speech about their 8th grader. They had interviewed their 8th grader beforehand, to find out information about them.

Victor was the very last person to have a speech given about him. And the very last line of that very last speech went something like this... "Victor is going to miss all the teachers at ASM.... especially Mrs. (Sorry)."

I was completely and totally shocked. There are many students who I wouldn't be the least bit surprised might say something like that... but Victor? It made my day. Literally. I looked at the other teachers and said, "I'm so happy to hear that, but so incredibly shocked."

"You never know," one of the teachers said.

I think about that now, because it's so very true.

You never know.