What We Leave Behind-Imprints on the Soul

As we approach the end of another school year, it is time for celebration, reflection, and bittersweet goodbyes. The school year can be like a marathon race and roller-coaster all wrapped into one. I also equate the school year to a long car ride. We all start out as best friends, but as the ride gets longer, we get on each other nerves, and we may hear sayings like, “He’s looking at me, make him stop.”

In our class, we do some activities to combat this. We get a secret gratitude partner and write them letters, telling them why we appreciate them. When we reveal who are partners are, it is a joyful day. That seems to raise class morale and brings some fresh air into the long car ride of the school year.

Through all our 180 days in the classroom, it has been a fantastic school year, as it always is. In my class, we don’t do a “count-down” because this takes away from us enjoying today and being in the moment. We talk about how most of us are bored 2 weeks into summer, so let’s enjoy our precious time together.

A few days ago, at the graduation at our school, one speaker said, “Although you will physically leave this school, part of you will always stay at this school.” I really liked this. After the graduation, when we returned to the classroom, one thoughtful girl raised her hand and said, “What will I leave in this classroom after I am gone?”

Although those words were powerful, I realized that I could not immediately articulate what specifically she would leave. I looked at her smiling face and told her, “You will leave your smile in the classroom and also in my heart.” She looked up and said, “What about my intelligence?” I told her that not only would her intelligence stay with me, but her deep and original questions would resound in the minds of her classmates. She laughed, and I said that her laughter would light up our classroom even in her physical absence.

At last, I felt like I was getting at the heart of it. We all leave indelible imprints on each other, not always positive, but often memorable. I have been teaching for 10 years and have had the extreme pleasure of teaching over 300 students, and it is wonderful to know that they have all left their mark on my soul.

What the students leave with me, their imprints on my soul:

·         genuine kindness

·         hope for mankind when I see their indomitable spirit

·         a free pass into their magical worlds, full of love, wonder, play, laughter, and innocence

·         a chance to see the world through their eyes

·         a reminder to be in the moment where everything is fresh and new.

And what I hope to leave with my students:

·         a thirst for knowledge and the exhilaration of learning

·         a sense of awe and an awareness of the true strength of kindness

·         an openness and vulnerability paired with resilience

·         the gift of music as it open up parts of the soul that only music can reach

·         the idea that we never have a bad day, we just have a bad attitude

·         the thought that the difference between and adventure and an ordeal is our attitude

·         the ability to experience a profound gratitude for this world and everything in it, as well as some tools to explore that gratitude and take it deeper.