Making a Difference

Let me share with you a couple of conversations I've had with a few of my students:

My bass player stayed after school on Wednesday to practice. When he was ready to go home, he asked me for a note. He wanted me to write a note to his mother, verifying he was at the school practicing. I asked, "What's the matter? She doesn't trust you?" And he said "Nope. My cousin just started coming to this school & she thinks when I'm late coming home from school, it's because I'm hanging out with him." I ask, "Does he like to get into trouble?" And he replies, "Oh yeah! My mom blames my uncle because he's the real troublemaker..." I wanted to ask what kind of troublemaker & thought better of it. Instead I asked, "Do you hang out with your cousin alot?" He replied, "Just when I'm bored." So, then I finished with, "I guess you won't be bored too much with all of that practicing you have to do, right?" :)

I had a kid from one of my classes hang out in my room after school today because he didn't want to go to the dance. He's a 9th grader & he said the dances were "lame." He talked with me while I planned my classes for the next day. He had a lot of really good ideas for his class & "encouraged" me to accomplish some of them. I said I would try, but with my schedule, its hard to get things done quickly. I feel like I'm planning all the time & I'd like to have a social life once in a while. He agreed with me & said having a social life was important. Jokingly, I said, "So, why are you hanging out here? You have friends, right?" Of coarse he had friends. He went on to explain that his best friend was struggling right now. He caught her with vein marks up her arm & told me about all of the different drugs she said she had been shooting up. I was shocked that a 14 year old kid could possess such a diverse pharmacy. All I could do was listen to his story & offer words of encouragment to him, hoping he would find a way to help his friend get clean. It's amazing what kids deal with these days.

Meanwhile, I received a call from my friend today. She said they ran into some problems with the bathroom renovations at the condo & it won't be ready to move into by the 19th. I was disappointed, obviously, cause that means I won't be able to move in until the 10th of Oct. On the positive side, I guess it will give me more time to pack my crap, and she just freed up my weekend. I guess I'll have to take a student's advice & have a social life!