Summer School

I spent my summer  at Rocky (my high school) working with the English Language Learners in summer school. It was pretty low-key: I went to class with the students for five hours and helped them when they needed it, then spent the last three hours in a classroom tutoring/hanging out with a few kids until they left at the end of the day. It was cool to be back in my high school (in my old English classroom with my former English teacher, no less!), but it was definitely weird too. So many teachers were confused at the fact that I wasn't a student; I got stopped on my way into the teacher's lounge more than once. And none of the students believed me until I showed them my badge. Summer school is just a different crowd all together, which means lots of discipline issues, but the students didn't even take me seriously when I asked them to not climb on the stair rail because my face looks like it belongs in middle school. Ridiculous.


Overall though, it was a great experience. I enjoy working at the middle school, but it was nice to be with the high school students for a change. It's kind of fun to watch them figuring out who they are, and making decisions about where they want to be in life. One student that I developed a good relationship with (a refugee child that doesn't have a stellar support system at home) told me that he wants to be a pharmacist when he grows up. I felt so much pride that a student who had just finished his freshman year of high school could have such lofty goals. Before he told me this though, he said "promise you won't laugh?" It broke my heart to think that someone else had laughed at this student's goals, and that he thought it would happen every time he shared his ambitions. For the rest of the summer, I did my best to show him that I supported him in every dream he pursued. It was definitely eye-opening. I am very fortunate to come from a family that loves and supports me in everything I do, and to have parents that taught me that nothing is impossible without hard work. The majority of these summer school kids don't have that at home, and I wanted to be that for them while I could.


With that, though, came a hard realization: there is a limit when it comes to caring. I have always known that I care too much about people; no matter what I do, it just happens. But there would be days in this job that I was so frustrated because all I wanted was for the students to care about their future as much as I did. Over the six weeks I was there, I had to learn to stop myself when they stopped showing interest. I only interacted with about 30 students, I can't imagine how teachers deal with the frustration of unmotivated students in class after class and year after year.


I would do it again in a heartbeat, though. Maybe I'm just an optimist, but I really do believe that everyone is capable of great things. Working with these students to help them work toward their academic goals, and realize that they can actually be successful in life, despite what they may think, was a great experience. I have such a natural love for all the students, and want them to know that I will support them in all their positive goals and aspirations.


Sorry for the sappy post, I just feel so strongly about these kids being happy that it kind of makes me emotional. If you want to hear a ridiculous story, ask me about the time I cried while helping a kid pack up his locker to move to a different one. That was a good time.