all worth it

Being a teacher beats you down. Students are regularly apathetic, frustrating and lazy balls of teenage hormones. I connect with these little people on a personal level everyday, and that is great and can be quite rewarding. However, there is always the underlying "but they still don't get it!" They don't quite see the potential that I see, and have no idea how to go about achieving it.

But then they do. Today a student I taught for the last three semesters, who was nothing short of brilliant, who I had the most interesting conversations with, who just would not do homework and assignments, and who's mark hovered around a 50% the entire time I taught him came to see me. He came to share that he had just received his average for his current math class - and it was an 80%! This is nothing short of miraculous for a student who is truly gifted but just could not be bothered to put his current book down to see what unit we were studying.

It makes all the frustration worth it to know that these little people care enough to share their successes. To know that they do eventually sort out how to balance the different parts of their lives without compromising what they really consider to be important. Even better when they come let me know so I can celebrate with them!

wow

Turns out I might not be quite as at odds with the universe as it feels some days.  Remember my wants post from not too far back?  Well a month and a half later here's the update.

I want my arm to stop hurting.

My shingles cleared up in what could likely be considered record time if family history is any indicator to how much you should suffer.  The rash is still visible, but I don't think there will be any scarring.  Yay!

I want my Pom girls to do okay tomorrow in their first performance.

They did okay.  The season is now over, and it was an okay one.  I'm not willing to give it more than okay, cause, well, I re experienced what being a teenage girl is all about (and it's not pretty...).  I'm pretty happy to be finished for the year, but am going back for round two next year.

I want Buns to get the job at my school cause she'd be awesome and a perfect fit.

She did get the job, and she is a perfect fit.  I love working with her (we co-teach a class) and know that she is doing a super job everywhere else she works.  I'm also pretty pumped I've got another person on staff to back my crazy proposals.  

I want you all to put yourselves on the Bone Marrow registry.

I don't know, did you do this?  Canada has just switched to the super easy cheek swab method so if you just couldn't make time to go in and give a tiny vial of blood now you have no excuse.  They send you the kit, you swab and send it back.  Do it.

Most importantly I want Erica to be well, to know we're thinking of her, to find a donor - life is so f'ing unfair to the most amazing people.

SHE'S FOUND A MATCH!  An imperfect one, but a viable donor.  I won't lie, I cried with happiness when I found out while watching this.  Now there's quite a few things that need to happen before the transplant and let's all really really really hope it all goes perfectly.

I also got a few wonderful things that weren't on my wants list, but more on that soon.