Those we Learn From….

When we last spoke, I told you about my family and how they influenced who I was growing up. To be fair, there were other groups that had a major impact. Some came into my life for a season, and some for a lifetime. It is important to make that distinction. One group the Lord used to shape who I would become was the educators I spent so much time with at school. An impact on a life can come in many different forms, and sometimes that means it is not always positive. The educators in my life fall on both sides of that line.

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I know you are probably thinking, "Why is this guy rambling on about his childhood?" You may be thinking, “ Tell us what got you off center and why you are trying to find yourself again!” You're not wrong. We haven’t talked about that yet. It is to come in time, but to understand how lost I was, you need to know who I was. The educators in my life were the people who God used to get me to this point now in the present.

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In a life spent mostly in school of some kind, the list of educators who influenced my life is lengthy. They range from the coach who pushed me to always be better to the lady I walked with between college classes, who could literally smoke a cigarette in three puffs. Seriously, three! I wanted to share with you the four people who had the greatest impact on me.

​Mr. R-

Mr. R was one of the first male teachers I had in school. He was funny and energetic. He was older, but he was always silly and found a way to make books fun. Even Johnny Tremain, which may be the worst book I've ever had to read. To be fair, it may not be bad; I just feel a dislike for it, like an instinct. Mr. R would say things like “Let’s all sit in a Kircle.” That simple change in the sound of the “C” in circle, I thought, was funny, and my sense of humor is crazy in that the more someone does something really dumb, the funnier it becomes. I always enjoyed his class, even though I truly disliked reading.

​Reading has always been difficult for me. I am slow at it, and I have difficulty identifying words in isolation. I have great coping skills and the ability to use context clues to identify words, but I may be able to use words in conversation without being able to read the same word. It is something that I have been embarrassed about for so long. For so many years, my mom would read the assigned books to me at night. She would read my homework to me and help me when needed. (I truly owe her so much) I didn’t say much at school because my ADHD and behavior covered up the struggles I had. Instead of noticing that I couldn’t read well, the teachers focused on my activity and behavior.

​Mr. R took the time to realize that I had issues. He noticed the other things as well, but didn’t choose to focus on those. He allowed me to walk around the room when needed, reading the whole time. He also asked me, “Have you ever tried doing this while listening to music?” I had no idea what he was talking about. He allowed me to read while listening to classical music, and to my amazement, I did so well. To this day, I listen to music (now on YouTube) while I am working, actually trying to finish my Doctoral Degree. I appreciate how Mr. R saw me for who I am, not what I was doing.

Mrs. L-

I always say that if one thing is true, the opposite can also be true. For every Mr. R, there is a Mrs. L. Mrs. L would not see my potential. She saw the behaviors and just didn’t know how to speak to me. There are plenty of horrible stories, and I am not looking for you to feel bad for me. The story I want to share with you now is one that still affects me. Mrs. L would pull me into the hallway (this happened multiple times) and ask me why I smelled so bad. The reason was simple. I was a young boy who loved playing sports at recess and gym. I liked going hard, and I was a bigger kid. I would sweat, A LOT. Multiple times she would ask me about my bathing habits, whether my clothes were clean, and whether my mom would clean them, and it really just made me feel awful for who I was. I did stink. I was a young boy who was a sports nut. To this day, I shower every day, if not twice, and clothes are only worn once.

​Mrs. P-

Mrs. P was a great teacher, but she couldn't understand students with a lot of energy. Every nine weeks, we would have a celebration for students to attend. One celebration we had was an air band show featuring the band Poison. For the young readers, Google ‘Poison’, they were awesome back in the day.  I was looking forward to this one. To go, you had to finish all your work and avoid getting into trouble. I worked so hard. I was not in trouble, and I had completed every assignment. For me, this was so hard. The last assignment of the week was a math assignment. I completed it and handed it in. The celebration was to take place at the end of the day, the next day. When it came time to go, I was so excited. Until Mrs. P said I was not going. I had not finished an assignment from yesterday. I swear I had. The more I think about it, the more I am sure I did, and I know they chose not to include me. The same 7 or 8 students were never included. At this point, I decided that I didn’t need to work so hard anymore. If I were never going to be part of the celebration. What Mrs. P was teaching me was not to be responsible or to work hard, but that sometimes people just don’t like you. Sometimes you are going to be left out.

​ROCKY-

Rocky was a professor, younger, and just a cool guy. His job was to teach a freshman orientation class. He wouldn’t only work with us on our work, he would talk to us about life and how we should handle certain situations. Rocky was doing social and emotional teaching before that was a thing.  He created relationships with his students and helped us through the struggles of learning to be in college and away from our families. He showed me the power of simply believing in me.

​I know that these stories are long, but these experiences were things that the Lord wanted me to go through. All of these led me to become an educator myself. I wanted to create an environment where students are treasured, supported, and believed in. I wanted to create a learning environment where students are never seen for their actions, put down, or left out for no reason. Children need educators who are advocates for them. The Lord helped me become the educator I wish I had. Romans 5:3-4 teaches us that the trials we go through lead to growth, endurance, proven character, and a strong hope in GOD. Even though these things were hard to go through and still affect me, I am thankful for the lessons they taught me. I have used that strength in the Lord to advocate for students for more than 20 years. Those things we struggle with may be what make us so strong.

Talk again soon…