Back to School Night

I can't wait to start teaching. Walking around classrooms, chatting it up with a few teachers and seeing some of my youth with their parents tonight really just did it for me. This is absolutely, my calling.

Students Run L.A. is a great program that give at risk students the chance to run the L.A. marathon. They buy running shoes for the students, provide nutritional guidance, and pay for the registration fees of the marathon and other fun runs as they train. Running is such a great source of motivation. It's straight forward and easy for youth to understand: make small goals, stick with it and you're sure to accomplish something. This of course, isn't a possibility unless either teachers or volunteers are willing to run with the students.

Tonight, I met the teacher who heads the SRLA program at the middle school I work with. She runs with her students. During the weekdays she runs short distances, on Saturdays she leads the longer runs necessary for increasing endurance. There's so little time in a day, in a month, in a year; but she takes the time and gives it to her students. That's beautiful to me.

And at the end of the night, I happened to meet a student that's already finished 2 marathons. Her first in about 6 hours, her second in 4. Her friends think of her as the runner and it's a title she wears with pride. And maybe it was just me, but I thought she looked humbler and more prepared than many other 13 year olds for the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead. I can only hope, that I will eventually make a difference for someone in such a powerful way. I'm bubbling with anticipation.