I have been an education now for about 9 weeks.
And in that short amount of time, as I am only working 2 days a week, my heart has already been ripped out of my body.
You begin to attach yourself to these students. Every one of them a character from The Island of Misfit Toys. Every one of them a child from a crazy set of circumstances. Every one of them from a situation that is not like your own, not like what you're used to, not like what you can control.
It's almost impossible.
There are parts of me that wants to scream out in agony. How have we, as a society, stopped being human? How have we stopped being real people? How is it so impossible to get a child with a case of raging strep throat a simple antibiotic? Because the moment I offered him a cough drop, I was out of line.
It is infuriating.
It is the stuff that drives people crazy, and the stuff that makes social workers and nurses and teachers... My heroes.
It's the start of December today. It is about 50 degrees outside, it's sunny, it's gorgeous. And really all I want to do? Drive to where the student is, pick him up and take him to the emergency center. But instead, my life is full of other things. Because we have a roof over our head, food in our refrigerator, too many clothes to choose from, and a thermostat that probably needs to come down a few degrees. Luxuries.
When did food and clothes and heat become a luxury in my community?
It will rip your heart out. But I will show up on Tuesday, and I will text this kid before then, and I will push every button I know how to get him a free drug. I will Rage Against the Machine.
