Recently, I got to work with a group of students as a tutor. I got to revisit my old high school and even work closely with one of my favorite teachers. He was a great help in getting me set up with the students and in helping to orient myself with what I would be doing. I was working with a couple of students who were enrolled in a summer school government course; some were looking to get the class over with before they even got into high school, some needed it as a last-minute requirement to graduate and others didn’t do as well as they could have. I got to work with students from all walks of life: English Language Learners from different parts of the Middle East, some students who were local, or went to the rival high school; it was very interesting to get to meet them all. But one student in particular really had a big impact on me.
For reasons of protecting his identity, I will call this boy Eric. Eric was a high school graduate and was taking the course so he could get a better grade and get his diploma. He was a bright, very energetic kid and, looking at him, you would never guess that he has gone through half of the things that he has. My teacher set me up with him to help out with his research paper, as it was part of the students' final grades, and he felt that Eric could benefit from my help. Every day, I came in at 9 A.M., walked around a bit and helped the students out with their articles that they would do before they sat down to write their papers. Once they were ready to begin, I took my seat beside Eric and helped him navigate the paper and find articles and sites that he could use for his paper. He was writing about abuse, as it was something that was very personal to him.
I was a little worried that he was biting off more than he could chew -- he wanted to write about sexual, emotional and physical abuse. When I suggested writing about one, he shook his head and said he could handle it and that it was something that he was set on writing. So I let him run with it and he did his research, going from site to site, making sure it was a credible source (with my help), that he wasn’t repeating statistics and that he was always able to find something within it. He looked at some policies that connected to the topics, which were a difficult task. As big of a problem as abuse is, there aren’t many state-wide policies to help prevent it or treat people who have gone through it. We were able to find two in the end and then Eric was finally able to tell his story.
It was the most heartbreaking thing I had ever read.
As a prospective teacher, I know I’m going to have a few students who haven’t had the best lives. And I have friends who have gone through some rough patches, but to read Eric’s story and to know that he lived through this and has come out so much different on the other side put a smile on my face. It gave me a bit of hope for the world. Eric was taken from his home around 11 years old and spent four and a half years going from group home to group home, placement to placement. It wasn’t until he ended up in a higher security institution that he finally began to realize what he was doing and that these violent tendencies and anger issues were going to destroy his life. He couldn’t keep going down the path he was without putting his entire future in jeopardy -- so he decided to change.
He turned his entire life around, got his anger under control, came back to high school and attended regular classes. He is one of the sweetest and funniest kids I’ve met. And, yes, he still has some problems controlling his mouth (there were one or two times I caught him talking back to the teacher or speaking out of turn), but imagining what he would have done before; it could be much worse. Seeing where he is now, I’m very proud of him.
He has recently gotten a part-time job and is taking a year off from school before he goes to pursue a college degree. He loves sports and I hope he is able to work that into his college career. I hope that he does well for himself in the long run. My teacher told me that he had worked with a student one-on-one like I had with Eric and it was one of the greatest things he had done for himself, so that’s why he did what he did for me. I am so glad that he did.
Working with Eric was a wonderful experience and I will never forget him.
