Sunday, June 11, 2006

My Favorite Student

I know that you are not supposed to really become attached to your students, but that is one of my flaws as a teacher. Each year, there is at least on student I adopt and they become like my own child. For the past two years, there has been one student. Her name is Caitlin*. She is light brown skinned about 5’6”, with short brown hair which she keeps in a ponytail. Caitlin* just finished eighth grade at age 16. I taught her for two years and coached her for one year. She is a moderately outgoing person, who likes boys and sports. I quickly learned that she is very self-consciousness. During one of our first encounters, I asked her why she wore huge t-shirts with tight fitting jeans and she explained that her breasts were too big and the kids teased her about them. We talked about the situation and discussed why she should be proud of her body regardless. What I soon realized was that she had never worn a real bra, but only sports bras. Another co-worker and I got together and took her on a shopping trip to Victoria’s Secret where we had her fitted and purchased several items for her. The next week at school she wore a cute little tight fitting shirt. I was very proud of her for becoming proud of her body.
The thing that bothered me was that her mother had not taken the initiative to do this for her daughter and I began discreetly nosing around in Caitlin’s* business. I soon learned that her mother had five children all younger than Caitlin*. Her mother stayed away from home a lot and son Caitlin* had essentially become a mother figure to her sisters and brothers. She was responsible for cooking, cleaning, bathing the crew and getting them dressed for school. She waited with them at the bus stop and then walked the 5-7 miles from her school home because she usually missed her own bus. When she decided to get a job at the local McDonald’s, her mom required her to pay the rent. After realizing all that Caitlin had to endure, I took her under my wing. She has now become like a daughter to me and I am very glad to see her grow and progress into a beautiful young lady.

1 comment:

punam said...

hi
like u i too am a teacher,,,, i liked ur concern for ur students,,,
i teach english to girls n boys aged 12 to 14 in india
i would be glad if u could mail me at punammittal@yahoo.com
we could share our experiences
regards
punam