Making Good Choices

"Make good choices," is what I wrote in every autograph book I signed for 5th graders this past June.

Not all choices we make will be "good" or "right,"
as a matter of fact,
some of the worse choices we make are the ones we grow the most from.

Perhaps what I truly hope for is that when faced with the choice of either doing what everyone expects and wants them to do, that students take time to think, and consider what choice feels right to them.

Last week, I was trying to figure out a way to attend a SDSU football game.
Not that I love college football, it's okay and I do get football.
Not that I graduated from SDSU, I did and will always root for them!
No... it was because one of my former students played on the team.

I wasn't able to make any of Kaylen's freshman games last year,
so this year, I was determined to make it work.
That was until his mother informed me that he was no longer on the team.

*For a little background on my former first grade student Kaylen...

https://fungtastic-y30.blogspot.com/2016/08/saturday-student-memories-1.html

Apparently, when your major requires demanding classes and labs
(but you can handle them),
they take time away from your football practices,
so...
you are asked to think about changing your major
(from Biology to say... Communications).

Don't take this the wrong way,
there is NOTHING wrong with being a Communication major,
if that is what you want,
BUT...
as an educator,
and parent,
don't tell my kid to take an "easier" route
when they are fully capable of more!

Luckily Kaylen has an incredible mother,
who raised an incredible son,
to make choices he knows are right for him,
and not afraid to stand up for what he wants.

So instead of scrambling to find some seats for Saturday's SDSU home opener,
I got to take out an incredible 19 year old out for dinner.
I cannot be more proud of the choices he has made in his life.
I am in awe of the young man that once daydreamed in my class...
and that I "didn't call on even though he knew the answers,"
("teachers don't always call on the kids we know have all the answers,
we need to give others a chance to be heard sometimes")

I look forward to the day when I hand him a prescription to fill
(or not, if he chooses another path).
Just as long as he is making good choices... like giving ginger another try! 😉