Two Roads

I care quite a bit about my students both present and past.  Granted, there is the occasional freshmen that rubs me the wrong way, but even those students eventually figure it out and when they do I wish them the best.  Mostly I wish that they don't end up at Carl's Jr. the rest of their life, but someone has to make my #4 combo and what I've learned is that there is a place for everyone if they want it bad enough even if it's flipping burgers.

I really care a lot about my past students who have graduated and have gone on with their lives.  Many of the most successful students I've had came from my days teaching and coaching in Sacramento/Roseville.  They have done such great things with their lives.  They lived through the trials of being a post teen, a know it all college jerk, the age of enlightenment when it dawned on them that they don't know everything, then on to adulthood where careers are established and families are made.  Along the way I offered advice, criticism, and support and they accepted all equally because they knew me not just as a teacher/coach, but as a friend.

The same can be said for the first group of students I taught here at my current high school.  They are the group that helped me cement my presence here at this school and every year for the last 8 years I think of them and reflect on how I've grown and changed as a teacher. There is something different about this particular group though.  I worry more about them and their well-being.  I can't quite pin down why it is.  I don't want to see them walk down the path that looks attractive yet leads to hardship.

"Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference"

OK, great.  Sometimes the road less traveled is traveled less for a reason.

What I can't allow myself to do, I suppose, is interfere.  Those kids have to succeed and fail on their own.  It is in my nature to tell them, "You're not thinking this through." "Do you see the end goal in mind?" "Did you research this before committing yourself?"  That is something I can't shut off and those that know me know I can't shut it off much to my own detriment sometimes.  I suppose in another way, I'm trying to save them from making poor choices because I made a handful myself at their age.  I certainly took the road less traveled.  It wasn't the easiest and most convenient way to reaching my goals. This road was a hard road and at times put me in less than desirable situations. At the same time I DID choose the road less traveled.  I learned volumes from my failures and missteps; something I never would have attained if I did things right or by the book. 

I suppose I could pass along the things I know, the things I've learned and help those that I see are running towards a means to an end.  But as I'm finding, I just need to let them go and keep my mouth shut. They have to fail.  They have to learn.

"Ever tried. Ever failed. No matter. Try Again. Fail again. Fail better."

- Samuel Beckett