Today was one hellofa day. (Yes, hellofa is an official word as of five seconds ago!) I just was not very patient with kids towards the end of the day. I probably even added a little stress to one student in particular. Said student is in a drug rehab program and was having a bad day with teachers in general and I pretty much told him I was sick of all the drama and negativity. It was hard. We fought until I wasn't okay with it anymore. No bueno. It got me to thinking about how much this kid probably is hurting if he is acting out so much and turning to drugs so often. I actually asked him one day if he was really serious about quitting drugs this time and he basically said no. That is really sad to me. I really wish I could help every single one of my students but really, in the end, I can't force any of them to do the right thing. It is hard.
Well, here is the point of this post. I am SO thankful to have had a good upbringing. I just wanted to tell my mom and dad(Mom, tell Dad to read this post!) that I am truly thankful for all they did to teach me how to make good choices. Thanks so much for helping me learn how society works and that there are consequences for my actions. Thanks for loving me enough to say no when it was probably not always easy to say no. Thanks for teaching me boundaries and for helping me to know that using drugs would be a very stupid and unsafe thing to do. Thanks for helping me know I was loved and for supporting me in all my hopes and dreams. Thanks for all the hugs and "I love yous!" I love you both so much that words cannot do justice to the feelings.
Sometimes I wonder why I was so lucky to have such a good family. Why did I get to make it and so many people have seriously messed up families and never even had much of a childhood. I guess that is what makes me so thankful for what I have and what drives me to get up for work every morning. One of my students actually asked me and another teacher the question: "What motivates you to work?" I basically said my motivation to get out of bed each day is to be able to go and help kids realize their potential. I love that I can teach kids how to live life better. They may not remember all the terms and ideas I taught them in class, but I do hope they walk away from my classes with a sense that there is an adult who cares about them and that they also realize that they are in charge of their own destiny.
I guess that drive is also what gets me through hard days like today and what makes me able to face another day tomorrow.
