Stay in school

I had a moment the other day that I really wanted to share...

It was library day and I was herding all of the students to the library.  Our routine is that they get there and the librarian reads them a story.  After that they have free time to browse the library to look for new books to read.  Before the all the kids were settled, a student asked me why I wanted to be a teacher.  I replied that I'd always wanted to be a teacher from a very young age.  He (in all his innocence) asked me why I'd waited so long since all the other teachers were so young.  I laughed at his boldness, but was honest with him when I told him that I'd started a family at a young age and made some decisions that kept me from completing my education...that I'd never finished school so I was never able to officially be a classroom teacher.

The librarian called all the student's attention to her as she began to read the story.  When she was on about the third page, this student raised his hand.  She called on him, thinking- like I did- that he had something to add to the story she was reading.  Instead, with tears in his eyes (he literally wiped his eyes), he said to the librarian, "I'm sorry Miss _____, but I just can't stop thinking about what Mrs. Zwolle said.  Mrs. Zwolle, I'm sorry you never got to finish school.  I think that is so sad."

I was so touched....I just smiled at him and replied with, "Don't be sad!  I'm in school now!" and I used the moment to tell him (and the other kids) that it's never too late to go back to school.  I told them that not completing my education had certainly made my life more difficult, so it's always a good idea to stay in school and finish, but that if life throws you a curve ball, not to give up, but to push forward and know that the learning process is never over.  Whether we are in a formal school or not, we are always learning.

He seemed satisfied with that answer and turned back to the librarian to finish her story, but this is a moment that I think I will hold in my heart for quite some time.  I hope to challenge students and to encourage them.  I hope to teach them many academic skills, but I also hope to teach them that even though we sometimes make poor choices in life, the important thing is to learn from those choices and to make better ones in the future.