What do you remember?

When I think about my childhood education there are a few key things that come to mind. I remember nap time, recess, and helping my friends with their work in class. There was one girl who I remember from my elementary school who was my best friend, named Rachel. She was an amazing little girl who happened to have Down Syndrome, and we were the best of friends. We even walked down the graduation isle together when we finished 5^th grade! I think I remember her so well because she made me feel so loved every day when she walked into class and would give me a giant hug lifting me off the ground! I also remember my first true feelings of being ‘proud’. You see Rachel would sometimes have trouble in another class so her teachers would come and get me out of my class to help with Rachel in theirs. She would sometimes get upset or not understand something and would only want to talk to me, so I became important and could offer something no one else could. I could offer Rachel understanding and compassion in a way she responded to, and this made me understand the meaning of being PROUD.

I also remember my amazing elementary school teacher named Ms.Perry. I remember she was tough, but always made me feel special, and that she loved pigs. Now the pig thing is random, but it sticks out like a sore thumb in my mind. She always took time to speak with me, would make me work hard, and I was always happy to go to her class. I don’t really remember my middle school teachers and my high school teachers are a blur as well. I think there is something about being so young and impressionable that makes a child’s early teachers truly significant in their life.

I was thinking about my significance in my Kinder kids lives this week as we wrote graduation letters to them. They will be getting a photo album of their time at LCI and there will be a ‘teachers letter to the student’ on one of the pages. So, I wrote sentences about how smart they were and how I knew they would be successful in anything they chose to do. Then I put in the advice that stuck with me throughout my life that I heard from teachers and my parents alike; You can be anything you want to do, so dream big! I felt it was especially invaluable information since my own dreams of opening a nonprofit are coming true before my eyes, and it was that advice that pushed me towards achieving this goal.  For the children in my class who struggle with learning and who have special needs, I made sure to write how our differences are what make us special! I wondered if these words would hold meaning for them someday and when they looked back on this letter, what would they remember about me?

I hope that they will remember how I genuinely cared about each one of them. I imagine they may remember how strict I can be, but also how loving I am towards them. I hope that when they look back and think of Ms.Nikki that they feel encouraged to go out and follow their dreams.

There are so many feelings that rush through me when I think of them turning 15 or 18 and truly starting to make important choices in their lives. The world is their oyster, and I hope they can remember at least one teacher in their life that truly cared about their success.

But they are just kids, and I only have them for 6 months…..so maybe they will just remember that I hate cockroaches. :)