There's something special about children to me. Not all children though. Some are just flat out annoying (Some of you probably think I'm a bad person for that, I know. Hold your curses and floggings for later, please).
This thought comes to mind every time I visit one particular place. And it always happens during the workday for me. I'm talking about Oakbrook Preparatory School in Spartanburg. I could be having a really bad day, but if I have to go do any work for Oakbrook, I usually come out of there smiling.
Very recently I made a trip out there to work on a networked copier with the gentleman who installed the device, as he was having some network connectivity issues. This took place in the primary building where the elementary grade classrooms are. When I see the little ones changing classes it really just takes away all my attention and brings me back to the day when I was their size. I really miss being that small. It makes me smile and laugh to see their interactions with their friends and just sit in awe about how carefree their lives are. Time doesn't matter. In fact, it doesn't even exist to them. There are no busy schedules. There aren't bills to be concerned about, or meals to prepare for, or a job to do to stay alive. They just are. They are fragile creatures, subject to soaking up all things around them, good and bad. Things that will teach them and shape their character--also good and bad. And as most humans tend to do, they will apply these fundamental things they learn to similar situations later in life. Just think about that a moment. That means that the people they look up to--us tall older folk who know so much more--play a very crucial role in their lives to impart something to them during these early impressionable ages. Elementary school teachers--I salute you.
I don't remember much from many of my high school teachers. There were a few zany ones (like my Pre-Cal teacher who told us he wrote his checks to "Little Ceasars" as "Little Seizures"...I'll always remember that one), and a few I remember that I really liked. But going back much further, I remember several significant moments during my elementary school years. I remember Mrs. Gault & Mrs. Kellet in Kindergarten. Mrs. Gault, in my mind, and in that age, was a mean grump (Sorry Mrs. G, if for some unbelieveable reason you happen upon this musing). I remember when we were learning to tie shoes with shoelaces laced through cardboard shoe cutouts, Mrs. Gault was getting frustrated with me because I couldn't remember the steps and kept asking for help. Mrs. Kellet, however, with a great amount of patience, worked with me step-by-step a few times until it started to stick. This is such a tiny event in my life that doesn't amount to much compared to other things, but it was significant enough to stick with me 20 years later.
Going back to my experience a couple of weeks ago at Oakbrook, I was at one point in the Music teacher's classroom helping her with a question she had about her computer. She was teaching a class at the time but they were just watching the "I'm just a bill on Capitol Hill" video that I'm sure many of you watched when you were in primary school. After the video was over, my focus began to shift to what the teacher was now doing with the kids. She randomly chose one of the children and appointed him "President Obama". The boy then walked around the circle of classmates and individually greeted each one and shook their hand, while the other student would say "Thank you, Mr. Obama." They were all smiles and seemed to enjoy it. As the boy made his rounds by the side of the circle I was near, he broke out of the circle and came over to shake my hand and include me as well. It really made me laugh.
I'm not so sure teaching is for me, but I've always really really enjoyed the school/classroom atmosphere. When I was graduating college, I really wanted at the time to just get hired on with the IT department I was working in as a student. Looking at the present relationships I've gained that I likely wouldn't have if I did get hired on, I'm glad it didn't happen. But who knows...maybe there's a place for me in a school somewhere doing something, someday. Heh, I even used to think that one day it would be really cool to have a wife that is a teacher. And, truthfully, I thought that was going to become a reality several years ago, but several things happened there which completely changed that situation. That is an entirely different story though...one that may never show its face on a public blog.
To wrap this up...thinking about this stuff also makes me question what I'm doing with my life. Am I doing what I want to do? If I am, more importantly, is it in line with what God wants me to be doing? And, if I am doing what I want to do, shouldn't I feel a little more joyful about it than I do most days? It's pretty overwhelming to think about sometimes. I know I still have a lot of seeking to do for those answers. Perhaps this closing can be a good segway into my next blog posting. Unless I decide to write about something completely different. Which I might. So. We'll just see.
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