I believe that children are the future.
I believe this because once upon a time I was a kid. I look back at my experiences, my training, my growth and I see where I have come due to my experiences as a child. The future of tomorrow is built on the actions of today. With that; the adults of today are the children from yesterday.
I was 19 years old I was working for an education company over the summer. One of the activities we had was a trust fall, climb up a few steps of a ladder, fall back and have your team catch you. This is a pretty exhilarating and trust building experience, unless you are afraid of heights. I had a boy in my group who was 16, he was really afraid of heights, he couldn't take one step up on a ladder. After about 25 minutes of me coaching him and his team reaffirming him he got to the 5th step (for safety reasons he had to get to the 6th step before he could fall back). Once he reached the 5th step he told me he would not go anymore, he started to shake from the legs up and started to form tears in his eyes. This was a very tough thing for him to do, and I knew it.
I thought about how I could make it easier, and it clicked in my head. I ran away from him out where he would look straight not down as he was on the ladder. I remember that I was cheering for him to take the next step. With reluctance, shaking the whole way, tears streaming down his face he did it, he got to the 6th step. (This boy was raised in a tough military family, crying was not something he did a lot of) I remember looking at him saying "All you have to do is trust me and trust your team and fall back and your life will be changed for the better for the rest of your life". Then he stopped he looked at me, not a regular gaze, this kid looked at me with his soul, he was completely vulnerable and scared tears were streaming down his face, when he said something I will never forget for the rest of my life; "Luke I trust you". At that moment he crossed his arms and fell back.
This was the moment I became a life long educator. The moment he looked at me and changed my life, as he mumbled "I trust you". As I ran back to my team of high school students I started crying. I cried tears of joy, I was so proud. I was proud of what he had done; he didn't fall from a ladder, he conquered his worst fear, he created a change in his life. I am and will always be proud to share that moment. I became an educator to make a change, I want to help people. Our actions make ripples that echo through time.
We are the change for better or for worse. I believe that children are our future, I have seen a child change their future and watched it happen. If we can help others to learn how to make their lives, and the lives around them better we can build a world greater then we have seen before. The beauty we have today comes from the ones before us, I want to make sure the children of our children thank us for what we do today.
I believe this because once upon a time I was a kid. I look back at my experiences, my training, my growth and I see where I have come due to my experiences as a child. The future of tomorrow is built on the actions of today. With that; the adults of today are the children from yesterday.
I was 19 years old I was working for an education company over the summer. One of the activities we had was a trust fall, climb up a few steps of a ladder, fall back and have your team catch you. This is a pretty exhilarating and trust building experience, unless you are afraid of heights. I had a boy in my group who was 16, he was really afraid of heights, he couldn't take one step up on a ladder. After about 25 minutes of me coaching him and his team reaffirming him he got to the 5th step (for safety reasons he had to get to the 6th step before he could fall back). Once he reached the 5th step he told me he would not go anymore, he started to shake from the legs up and started to form tears in his eyes. This was a very tough thing for him to do, and I knew it.
I thought about how I could make it easier, and it clicked in my head. I ran away from him out where he would look straight not down as he was on the ladder. I remember that I was cheering for him to take the next step. With reluctance, shaking the whole way, tears streaming down his face he did it, he got to the 6th step. (This boy was raised in a tough military family, crying was not something he did a lot of) I remember looking at him saying "All you have to do is trust me and trust your team and fall back and your life will be changed for the better for the rest of your life". Then he stopped he looked at me, not a regular gaze, this kid looked at me with his soul, he was completely vulnerable and scared tears were streaming down his face, when he said something I will never forget for the rest of my life; "Luke I trust you". At that moment he crossed his arms and fell back.
This was the moment I became a life long educator. The moment he looked at me and changed my life, as he mumbled "I trust you". As I ran back to my team of high school students I started crying. I cried tears of joy, I was so proud. I was proud of what he had done; he didn't fall from a ladder, he conquered his worst fear, he created a change in his life. I am and will always be proud to share that moment. I became an educator to make a change, I want to help people. Our actions make ripples that echo through time.
We are the change for better or for worse. I believe that children are our future, I have seen a child change their future and watched it happen. If we can help others to learn how to make their lives, and the lives around them better we can build a world greater then we have seen before. The beauty we have today comes from the ones before us, I want to make sure the children of our children thank us for what we do today.