diary of this girl: guest post

dear readers of diary of this girl,

i am humbled and honored to guest post on the beautiful megan's blog. i miss her dearly and am counting down the days until we reunite. megan, first, thank you for letting me write something. second, i hope you never forget how truly wonderful you are and how incredibly blessed i am to have you as a dear friend now and for life. love you!

my name is ah, and i am in my second year of teaching high school in charlotte, nc. to say i have been blessed, inspired, and moved is an understatement. a typical day teaching brings countless surprises, whether long conversations with students about content and life, or getting one particular student to sit in his seat for the entire 90 minute class period.

i typically get to school around 5:30am (a time of day i never thought would become a regular occurrence). the students begin to arrive around 6:45, and class begins at 7:15. let's just say i can finally walk into the local coffee shop and the cute barista says "the usual?"

this year i am teaching ap environmental science, student leadership, honors' earth science, and standard earth science. i have a year of earth science under my belt, but am learning more and more about the environment every day. more importantly, i am learning more about myself, the system that simultaneously can produce leaders and trap potential, and the beauty that is my high school students.

it is hard to transcribe my experience. but, that is the hardest part for me: this is my "experience" and my student's reality. after a trying day, i am able to go home to my roommates or call family and friends to share or vent about the days' happenings. my students do not necessarily have the same liberty. i have held students as they cried about an eviction notice posted on their door, the parent they lost to drugs, or the boyfriend deported. i have watched high school students struggle to write a complete sentence and solve basic addition.

however, i have also laughed and danced with students, heard stories of strength and resilience that have moved me to tears, seen students serve their community and each other, and seen big personalities share big dreams. i have been transformed. in teach for america, they repeatedly ask us what we need to do in our classrooms in order to alter the trajectory of the lives of our students. the truth is, my students have altered the trajectory of my life.