I only taught for about four years. I sometimes wish I had taught longer, but that would mean I wouldn't have my N or I would have had to start teaching prior to age 27, and I think if I had been a teacher straight out of undergrad I would have sucked.
For many years I didn't hear anything about former students. Perhaps I was too busy with my anxiety issues and riding the learning curve of new motherhood to pay attention to the newspaper or anything much beyond my own four walls.
In the past six months or so, I have learned about the life paths of three of them.
One, a young male whom I briefly taught while student teaching, shot and killed himself in a McDonald's after confronting a girlfriend who worked there. I was not in the least surprised by this because in sixth grade he was already quite a mess. Constantly in trouble, terrible attitude, eager to fight with teachers and students alike.
Another, a young girl I taught, was recently selected for a local honor and featured in our newspaper. I sent her a message on Facebook and congratulated her. She has about 4 majors in college and is absolutely beautiful. She reminded me of a book I read the students, a book about which I had completely forgotten. It was nice that she had a pleasant memory of her time in my class.
This past week I learned of another former female student who was killed in a fiery car crash on her 23rd birthday. I was, and am still, stunned and saddened.
I wonder about my former students quite often, hoping that their life paths have been mostly smooth. I hope that for the most troubled of them I provided a safe shelter, a consistency they could rely on at least for a few hours during the day. I hope that for the most promising I saw their talent and encouraged it.
It would be nice to learn about what happened to others, but at the same time, it is heartbreaking to learn of the ones who didn't make it or are well on their way to violent or criminal ends.
Ignorance is probably best.
For many years I didn't hear anything about former students. Perhaps I was too busy with my anxiety issues and riding the learning curve of new motherhood to pay attention to the newspaper or anything much beyond my own four walls.
In the past six months or so, I have learned about the life paths of three of them.
One, a young male whom I briefly taught while student teaching, shot and killed himself in a McDonald's after confronting a girlfriend who worked there. I was not in the least surprised by this because in sixth grade he was already quite a mess. Constantly in trouble, terrible attitude, eager to fight with teachers and students alike.
Another, a young girl I taught, was recently selected for a local honor and featured in our newspaper. I sent her a message on Facebook and congratulated her. She has about 4 majors in college and is absolutely beautiful. She reminded me of a book I read the students, a book about which I had completely forgotten. It was nice that she had a pleasant memory of her time in my class.
This past week I learned of another former female student who was killed in a fiery car crash on her 23rd birthday. I was, and am still, stunned and saddened.
I wonder about my former students quite often, hoping that their life paths have been mostly smooth. I hope that for the most troubled of them I provided a safe shelter, a consistency they could rely on at least for a few hours during the day. I hope that for the most promising I saw their talent and encouraged it.
It would be nice to learn about what happened to others, but at the same time, it is heartbreaking to learn of the ones who didn't make it or are well on their way to violent or criminal ends.
Ignorance is probably best.
2 comments:
It's always sad to learn about negative ends to former students' lives, isn't it? On the other hand, as you noted, it's delightful to discover when one of them is thriving and succeeding. I hope you hear more of the latter kinds of stories than the former.
(On a humorous note, I probably shouldn't share this, but when I worked at the alternative school, our staff used to joke that the county newspaper Crime Reports column was our alumni newsletter. In actuality, it always made us sad to see a report, because we truly cared for each student, but...the joke was funny.)
I worked in an alternative school as a school social worker before I had my first of three boys and became a stay at home mom. I share similar experiences with this. So many of these troubled youth went on to horrific tragedies, but a couple are doing all right. I think of them as 10-year-olds, when now they are much older. Funny, I think I would be so much better at my job knowing what I know now as a mom. Thanks for this post. It definitely made me think!
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