On consecutive days this past week I was reminded of both how incredibly strong our students can be and, at the same time, fragile.  First, I got word that a student had made an attempt on their life.  This is a student who seemed to me to be in a particular good place at the moment with a recent development at school that was an exciting personal success.  What we see of our student’s life in our one little class period is like the very tip of the iceberg of what is really going on at a deeper level.

The very next day I was having a casual lunchtime conversation with a student who had come into my class to work on a project when she said something that shocked me.  In discussing her lack of time to get work done, she made an off-hand comment that she walks an hour and a half home each night after her extra-curricular activity.  Wow!  Here is a student who is doing well academically, participating in extra-curricular activities, and dealing with the consequences of her family not having a car.  She was not complaining , like most of her peers would if they had to walk 15 minutes, she was stating the fact of the matter to explain why she works through lunch.

Two good examples in two days that our students are dealing with a lot more than we’ll probably ever know.  What we offer in the way of rapport, validation, and support can make all the difference in the world.  Students’ lives are a lot more complex than a G.P.A. and a test score.