like sands through the hourglass, so are the days of our lives

i have recently been thinking alot about how my life has changed so much in the last 2 months.

2 months ago i lived on a college campus with mostly people who were all my age. i had enough money to do (almost) anything i wanted to whenever i felt like it. i knew enough people that i could call/text when i felt like hanging out and would usually be able to find someone to spend some time with.

now i spend most of my time with people who are 18 years old and under. i work at least 10 hours a day. and i only get $200 a month. i can count how many people i know who live near me on my two hands. and as different as it is and as strange as it may sound, i wouldnt want it any other way! :)

i was placed in racine for a reason. and until now, i do not really think that i truly believed that. there were more days than not that i would be annoyed or frustrated with the idea that i was living and working in wisconsin, when i could have easily decided to stay in new york. i didnt feel like i was doing anything worth doing. it felt like i was just going through the motions for the sake of getting a task done. buttttt...thankfully, that is no longer! i am confident that this is where i am supposed to be and this is what i am supposed to be doing, at least for now. i do not know that i will continue to work in the field of education in the future, but for the time being this is completely right.

i spent friday morning attending parent/teacher conferences with a family of students that come to the center. the students, marcos, who is in 8th grade, maria who is in 3rd grade, and johnny who is in 2nd grade all attend a private school in the area. neither one of their parents speak english so they struggle with communicating with teachers at the schools. they asked me to attend the conferences with them so i could help translate and also get a better idea of what the students need to work on when they come for tutoring.

i was and still am so impressed by marcos, maria, and johnny's parents. they moved here from mexico to ensure that their children had more opportunities than they did. neither one of them can read or write in english and they have to work ten times as hard as most people to get the same results. simple communication is a challenge, but despite all of this, they took the time to meet with their kids teachers and are so completely invested in their childrens education. when the teachers reported something bad, you could tell that they were dissapointed. and when the teachers said something good, they were proud. they were concerned with how the children behave at school and what they can do to help make sure they are successful in their academics.

marcos struggles with science and being organized. perfect! those are both my areas of expertise :) his teachers said that he is a hard worker in class, but needs to work on making sure he turns things in on time and puts in as much effort outside of school as he does when he is at school. maria reads below grade level, but is improving. her teacher says that she struggles with written work, which is not surprising considering she comes from a home where spanish is spoken exclusively. johnny also reads below grade level and is having a hard time improving his reading skills. he also needs to work on his multiplication and math skills.

as i spent time at the conferences discussing these things, i realized that these are all things that we can work on. you can help someone be better organized or improve their reading skills or practice multiplication tables. but unfortunately, for the parents of these children, the situation is completely different. marcos, maria, and johnny's father told their teachers that the reason why he is so strict with them about school is because he does not want his children to be in the same situation that he is in. he explained that since he cannot read or write, he has to use his body, instead of his mind, for his work. he said that he knows that he has to have the worst jobs because of this and at the end of the day he often feels badly. he comes home tired and worn out because of the physical nature of his job. and he doesnt want this for his kids.

i felt so terrible after hearing this. i felt angry and sad. but in a backwards sort of way, it also helped me be more inspired. while it would be difficult to change the situation of these students parents, it is not so difficult to change the situation of these students. they have tonssss of potential and, with the right resources and in the right environment, can achieve success. i am only one person, and i cant guarantee that what i do will ensure a perfect future, but what i am doing cant hurt.

and so after this veryyyyy long rambling of thoughts, the moral of the story is that like sands through the hourglass, so are the days of our lives- and as of right now, my days are completely, 100% exactly what they should be :)