So my year promises to be full of conflict, at least internally. But that's okay by me, because when I decided to return to teaching high school, I knew that I would be facing some difficult challenges, and I was okay with that. This is an advantage to me, for I know that whatever happens that's negative, I'll be facing many of the problems that I already knew for sure were going to arise. I knew that I would have difficulties with materials, I knew that I would have difficulties with other teachers who aren't really teaching much, and I knew that I would have difficulties with administrators who are okay with things like not having any textbooks for students, and who have extraordinary expectations of teachers, who are paid rather little but who have huge responsibilities--and more and more of them every year.
Because even though I knew I would have difficulties, I also knew that I'm a good teacher, and that I would be able to help young people learn many of the things that they need to know about reading and writing. I knew that I would be able to encourage them and help them to grow in ways other than academically, too. I knew that I would be able to prepare them for college in ways that other teachers struggle with, mainly because of my extensive experience teaching at both levels, as well as my extensive work in earning three master's degrees and a doctorate. These aren't things that I brag about, of course--I consider myself very fortunate to have been able to achieve these things--but I do recognize them as strengths and I know that they benefit the young people I work with.
Challenges always have their bright sides. Bright sides always have their challenges included. I think that one of the things that helps me get through life well is that I keep in mind that challenges aren't there to bring me down--they exist to help me to become better at what I do. I don't hate challenges, and I don't try to avoid them. I face them and I do the best I can, either in spite of them or by turning them into something else.
I haven't always had this perspective. I used to see challenges as unfair obstacles, things that brought me down and added to problems I faced, such as depression. I used to try to avoid them when I could, rather than face them and learn from them. Fortunately, I didn't continue with that behavior. Now, I welcome challenges because they help me to learn much more than unchallenging situations do.
In this year ahead, I'm going to face frustration and aggravation. I'm going to be overworked and undervalued, and I'm going to have people criticize what I'm doing in my classrooms because it doesn't fit what they think I should be doing. I'll have students who do little work and then complain when they fail my class. And all that's okay. It will wear on me, and by the time summer comes along I'm going to be in desperate need of a break. But when all is said and done, it will all have been worth it because of the contribution that I'll be able to make to the students who do the work that will help them to improve their skills; I know that if they simply do what's asked of them in class, they'll be much better prepared for college and for the work force that they'll eventually be entering.
I have challenges ahead, and I'll face them. There's really no other way to deal with challenges if we want to make the most of these lives we've been given, for when we face them, we learn from them and we grow.
Life's challenges are not supposed to paralyze you;
they're supposed to help you discover who you are.
Bernice Johnson Reagon
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