Challenges and Triumphs

Do you remember the first time you made it across an entire set of monkey bars? I can attest that this is an accomplishment I do not retain, as it was to me an ordinary activity. This standard is not, however, the same for all children. The seemingly normal tasks my body can accomplish, which I so often fail to appreciate, are great challenges for others. For one student in Year Five who experiences developmental delays, completing the monkey bars for the first time was a lofty and memorable feat. We began in the last weeks of last term with the goal of going across one monkey bar by himself, which he accomplished quickly. He moved his goal to three, which took some time and encouragement, but eventually, he accomplished it. At the beginning of this term, this student created the goal of completing all of the monkey bars (8) by himself. Within the first week, he made it across six with no help. This was incredible. I was overjoyed at his determination and the progress he had made by not giving up. His determination and “Can I try again?” after every fall painted a smile of encouragement on my face. He asked me if I thought he could make it across all of them, and I told him, of course I did. He asked me if it would be hard, and I told him it would be, but reminded him that he does hard things all of the time, and I would be there to help him do this hard thing. When the next week rolled around, he was back down to only two or three monkey bars at a time, but determined in his pursuit. On Friday, after many instances of bravery to try again, this student made it across all of the bars by himself for the first time. I was so proud of him, and so thankful for the gift of walking alongside him while he journeyed to a destination that is important to him. We celebrated with a high five and his favorite game- Spot It- and we both left beaming from his accomplishment. 

Another triumph is in the photo below- one task I have is to check in with all of the kids who may have trouble socializing and are often by themselves to see how they are doing, let them know someone cares, and try to connect them. Here are two of the students who are often alone learning piano together! It brings so much joy to my heart when students do not need me. Friends who can support one another, a well-behaved classroom, or a student who has reached literacy show me that the work I get to do is done when I am no longer needed. When possible, the goal is for the work to continue when I cannot, especially given the fact that I will be headed back home in only a couple of months.

Accompanying the triumphs of the past few weeks are challenges that I gratefully encounter for the sake of getting to provide aid. There have been several incredibly sensitive situations I have encountered recently that have laid heavy on my heart, and that may not have been uncovered without the attention that my background in Social Work has equipped me for. Furthermore, I have been placed in more behaviorally challenged classes and struggled with finding my role in exercising classroom authority when I am not the teacher, but it seems the teacher is unaware or is okay with behavior I would deem inappropriate for school. In this, I have found opportunity for growth in the way I encourage young adults toward virtue for the sake of virtue in itself. For example, freshmen student threw a stick at a girl, which made her bleed. I asked to speak to him, and he ran away from me. He could only go so far, so I eventually caught up with him and asked what happened. In our conversation, I asked him about why it is wrong to throw sticks at people and why it is important to be a good person. The student did not even have a guess as to why we should try our best to be good people. I concluded the conversation by encouraging him to think about why behaving kindly is important, asking him to think about the way his actions affect others, and telling him I believe in him and that I believe he can become a good man one day. This conversation is one that I have repeated with other students this term. Boundaries are important for children; they need to know that rules will be enforced and that they can be the type of student who can follow them. It saddened my heart to hear so many young teenagers being failed by society in such a way that they do not know why they should be kind, much less how to be kind. I know to some extent, teenagers will test boundaries and misbehave, but I am not content to let them think that that is all society expects from them. I will continually remind them that I believe they are capable of being good and kind young men and women who will inherit society one day. When we hold young people accountable, we affirm that we believe that they can do better and be better. I believe in the students I work with, and I will not relent to let me know that by asking them to do better, slowly but surely. 

In all, each week leaves me with opportunities to grow from challenge and triumph. The joy of triumph reminds me why it is important to sludge through the challenge, and the challenge of reality grounds me in the truth that triumph requires attention, dedication, and consistency.