Bless me readers, for I have sinned. It's been over a month since my last post...
I will not have the time or the space here to write what I am thinking and feeling right now, but I have to get something down. This one is really for myself, though I thank anyone who feels compelled to read it.
On Monday, October 26, I participated in Challenge Day, a day-long event we're wrapping up here today after cycling through over 300 students and many teachers. To find out what Challenge Day is, go to www.challengeday.org.
It would be cliche, I guess, to say that I was transformed. And maybe, it would be a stretch. But after spending the day with 100 high school students and truly learning what is in their hearts and on their minds in an environment free of prejudice and judgment, I CAN say that I was, myself, challenged to recommit to my profession. In these days following my experience, I have felt an energy and a lightness. And I have also felt a burden of sorts.
How can we make an experience like Challenge Day a key fabric in our lives' quilts? It would be a waste of money, for one thing, to see the event as the opportunity to have had "one great day," though even for that, I think many in attendance would be grateful.
But how does Challenge Day work in the "real world"?
I have to take a moment to name drop Sean Flikke and Khayree Shaheed, our Challenge Day leaders. You probably won't know who they are, but I want you to know how inspired I am by them. How thankful I am to God for blessing me with placing these two unearthly (and yet, SO EARTHLY) men in my path. The very thought of them makes me feel like a groupie/stalker. If life was filled with people like this, we'd be more exhausted, but also better. These men are true heroes, and if our paths should never cross again, I will still not soon forget what they did for our school community.
In the coming days and weeks, I plan to reflect on Challenge Day more, both in my writing and thinking. I'm trying to figure out how, as a teacher, I can translate the safety, security, and openness of what happened here into a reasonable, realistic and professional environment. Sean told us that research shows that we need to receive at least a half-dozen hugs every day. That's probably not going to happen on the job. But what can happen here? I hope we figure something out. Life is a challenge. Every day is another kind of "challenge day." I only wish it could be more like the one I attended on Monday.
Right now, I have one hope...one prayer. I pray that the students and faculty members who attended any of the three days of Challenge Day at our school would know that I was there, too. That I am someone they can talk to and confide in. That I carry that spirit. At this point, that's probably the best thing I could hope for: to connect with others and spread that compassion as far as it can go.
Don't panic...I am still the same me. I don't expect to live a life free of sarcasm and complaints. I love sarcasm!
But I've been challenged this week. And I plan to rise up to meet that challenge.
