Week 2 of mentoring is drawing to a close. My student and I talk often and e-mail even more and I'm starting to form a solid bond with her. She's joyful and takes pleasure in simple things, such as a board game and fried chicken with some friends. She has deep values and a sense of direction for the future and I revel in that.
She recently celebrated her birthday and I sent her an online musical card. Took me all of five minutes. It's something I do very often for various friends and acquaintances and I get just as many in return. It's a small thing, really, not worthy of much notice. So I was totally unprepared and completely blown away by her e-mail response to it:
Thank you soooooo much for that birthday greet card i loved it. I was dancing to the music and smiling when the computer screen said click here!!!! That was awesome i showed alot of the students, and Mr. W he said thats cool no one sent him one i think he's very jealous. If you could see my face i would sooooo be smiling right now but once again thank you from the bottom of my heart....
I can't remember a paycheck ever feeling that good to me.
But today I got word that yet another young person affiliated with Gage Park High School has lost his life to gunfire on the violent streets of the inner city. Although I always feel sadness at the tragic loss of someone who has barely had time to live, I admit that now it is more profound for me. These are the streets that my student has to navigate every day. These are the funerals she attends with way too much regularity for a 16-year-old.
Sobering. Makes me very sad.
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