My Valentine's Day Post

I love my students.

You probably wouldn't think so after I've spent a day with them. I tend to get frustrated and tired, and at the end of the day I am completely ready to go home. Still, there's a bond there that can't be denied.

I worry about my students. I worry about the ones who use drugs on a regular basis. I worry about the ones who can barely read and write. I worry about the ones who have young children or babies on the way. I worry about the ones who are used and abused.

I laugh inside when a student says, "You just don't like me." If they only knew that I pour my soul into my work day after day. If they only knew that I cannot allow myself to fail them. If they only knew how I agonize over them when they fail.

I have to remind myself often that it's not my job to always help them. That it's my job to show them how they can help themselves. That it's my job to guide them into being fully capable students. And maybe guide them into being better people.

Finally, I have to remember that I can't change them. They can choose to listen to my teaching, or they can choose to ignore me. It's not up to me, no matter how I feel.

That's a freeing thought. I love them, and let them go.