In these past few months, I have had the privilege of spending time with middle school students. Recently, I have been able to gain experience with these early adolescent and preteen students that made me see how these sweet students live through life. The truth is that the middle schoolers have an understanding and an outlook on life that the rest of us seem to have forgotten. All of the adults have something to learn from middle school students. These middle school aged children all have something to teach us.
1. Enjoy life.
As someone who has worked with these kids, I can tell you that the know how to enjoy life. As adults, we tend to rush and waste time. We never slow down to enjoy our lives and what is around us. Middle schoolers know how to enjoy life and have fun. We need to take their lead and soak in the present.
2. Laugh often.
This may be related to enjoying life, but middle schoolers love to laugh. I have never seen anyone laugh more often than these kids. These children have a great sense of humor, and the love any opportunity to laugh. As adults, sometimes we forget to laugh and have fun with our friends. We become so focused on our work or what we have to do that we forget to relax and have fun. These kids can teach us how to forget our worries and just laugh.
3. Be honest.
If you haven't learned this yet, then you will within minutes of coming into contact with middle schoolers. They are very honest children. If you want to know the truth about something, then just ask a middle schooler and they will not hold back. They do not keep secrets. With this, they have your best interests at heart. They have no intention of hurting anyone.
4. Be silly.
Let's be honest. Middle schoolers are very crazy and silly. They are not afraid to express who they really are. Sometimes they are crazy and people simply cannot handle them. The truth is that they are expressing themselves and are trying to find out who they are in this world. There are too many fake people in this world, and we could use more genuine silliness to make the world a better place.
5. Dream big.
Middle schoolers have dreams and goals. They are young and still have that innocence in life. After spending time with these kids, you discover that they have really big dreams. They honestly believe that they are capable of doing anything. They do not have this discouragements that their dreams are not possible. As adults, we do not chase our true dreams because we are discouraged. We become pessimistic and believe that we cannot do anything. My absolute favorite quote from a middle schooler is "I want to create colorblind glasses so that my father can see the sunset." Not only does she care about her father, but she has a genuine goal of helping her father see all of the colors of the sunset. If we had a mindset and goals like these children, we would have already changed the world.
