High of Life

As cheesy as it sounds, I feel high on life these days. My seniors projects are wrapping up, and while some insist that the project is too much and shouldn't be continued, others confess that now that it's over, they feel it was the most valuable assignment they have had because it has taught them necessary life skills. For each student, the lesson is different. For one student, it's learning to scale back on commitments. For another, it's learning the reward of not procrastinating. For another, it's learning that others live difficult lives beyond imagine. For a different student, the lesson is yet to come - the lesson that she can actually give an eight minute speech and survive it. Their pride in their projects is contagious.

What I love so much about the senior project is that it gives students something concrete of which to be proud. They have had support and are finding they will make it through. Rather than dodging work, they realize they have to put in effort and that they can actually succeed. That is real therapy, if you ask me. They don't need me to listen to their problems, to be their mothers, to feed them lunch. They need me to provide them with an opportunity to be successful, and successful they are. They deserve to feel some pride right now. Way to go class of 2008!

My favorite projects from this year:

• One student raised money for an organization that provides clean water to the people of Ethiopia.
• Another shadowed an OB nurse and passed out twice and threw up twice her first day. I gave her the option of choosing a different project the next day, and she would have none of it.
• Another student is working on his hot air balloon license.
• Another student learned about Thai cuisine. He went out on a limb and called our local Thai restaurant, The Basil, and the chef there agreed to be his mentor. They met every Sunday and cooked a full meal. Then the student would practice the meal throughout the week.
• One boy worked with the local public defender's office and got to sit in on an interrogation.
• Another boy learned to play the violin. Although learning to play a musical instrument is a pretty typical senior project, this student busted ass, scuze my language, and really learned how to play.

I love my students.