old thread turned into my college application essay

[Samr]

This is the original topic post relaying an emotional story from work. Well, being the resourceful guy I am, and also one in desperate of a "life changing experience" to make the suits happy, I turned the story into my college application essay.



The app. essay is posted as a response below. It is better than the first version. I hope.









old topic: Sometimes it's the little things you do.....



...That mean the most.



Yesterday one of my co-workers shared with us this quick little story, which for some reason struck very close to home. And while she would be able to tell it best, I will try my hardest to relate it to you.







Last year she used to do a thing where she'd hold competitions (dancing, scavenger hunts, etc.) and give away prizes to the kids. One of the prizes she had picked up for a particular week was a cheap little $5 picture of one dinosaur eating another. You were supposed to color it in.



Well one of the kdis saw this, and asked her if he could have it. She told him that if she didn't give it away by the end of the week, it was his. Come the end of the week, she still has it, so she gives it to the kid. He is extremely happy.



Now unbeknownst to the teacher, that child's father was in hospis and died a week later from cancer. About a week after that, the teacher asked the kid what he had done with the picture.



His response: "It is six feet under."



The child explained that he put the picture in his father's casket, because the one dinosaur eating another was his father attacking the cancer.



With a little $5 purchase from Wal-Mart, this teacher unknowingly meant far much more to this one child than she could have hoped in a lifetime of teaching.



I don't know why I am sharing this with y'all (and being late for work in the process), but I felt it needed to be posted. Because sometimes it's the little things you do that mean the most.

___________________________________________



I love.....Championships

Edited by: Samr at: 9/5/05 11:11 pm

[missmyzte]

Good story Sam, thanks for sharing.

_________________

[Blondie]

In teaching we occasionally get reminded that what we do is important even though somtimes we wonder if we're doing any good at all.



Recently I ran into a former student at a gas station of all places, and he remembered me even though it was almost 8 yeas ago that he was in my class. He's a grown man now and is married with a baby(how time flies)...



He said I was the best teacher he ever had and thanked me - it made me smile all day.

Edited by: Blondie4Spurs  at: 7/15/05 9:57 am

_________________

[Samr]

The best teacher I ever had is the one I hated the most. Her name was Mrs. Clark. 7th grade English teacher, and 8th grade literature teacher.



I hated her to the point where I flat out refused to do homework, at the expense of my grade, just to spite her. She was strict, and an absolute, certified, 100% witch, but she forced us to learn correct grammar. She taught us how to write coherent essays, and fluidly put our thoughts on paper. You can see why I am forever in debt to her.



Best teacher ever. Even if I really, really hated her.

___________________________________________



I love.....Championships

[jcsgirl2608]

That story almost made me cry, Samr. That was very touching.

[Samr]

The Little Things





Andy was a bright young kid, unassuming but quite outgoing. Looking at him, you would never think he had a secret. Every Sunday, Miss Christin would raid the local Wal Mart in search of various candies and knick-knacks to give her kids as prizes over the upcoming week. She wasn’t wealthy by any means, often having trouble simply paying her child’s daycare tuition, but every Sunday, without fail permitting her finances, she would pick up prizes for her students.



It was late September, and Christin had just purchased a five-dollar coloring poster of one dinosaur eating another. When she brought the lot to class, Andy took a particular liking to the picture and asked if he could have it. Casually Miss Christin said that, if she had not given away the coloring poster by the end of the week, it was his. Come Friday, the poster was still up for grabs, and Andy walked home a happy kid. Christin did not think a thing of it.



A week later, Andy was talking to his teacher, and she asked what had become of his five-dollar picture. His response, “It went down with Daddy.” Unbeknownst to her at the time, Andy’s father had lost his fight with cancer earlier in the week, after spending the past month on hospice. Andy went on to explain that the dinosaur on top was his father, and the one it was attacking was the cancer. He had colored the picture, and placed it on top of his father’s casket-- a symbolic portrayal of Andy’s view on Daddy’s illness.



I spent the last two summers teaching in a daycare center. Originally, I did not like the idea of dedicating myself to a state-regulated number of crying, fighting, conniving little kids who’d rather I leave them to their own devices than make my best attempt at supervision. But while the trials and tribulations of working with kids made for some rough days, there was some joy to be had in knowing that I made a difference. While Christin’s story was obviously under special circumstances, it nonetheless exemplified what the teachers do for the kids on a daily basis.



Each day as a teacher, you have the ability to positively influence each one of your students. While you teach as a technicality of the profession, the majority of what your kids will remember from your class, five, ten, twenty years down the road, will not be math problems or worksheets. As the children turn into adults, who turn into contributing members of our society, they will remember you for the life lessons you taught them, and the times when you went out of your way to make a difference.



Sometimes, it is the little things you do which mean the most. Some people walk through life, always trying to be the hero, always trying to be the one emblazoned on the front page of the newspaper. And those people miss the point. Miss Christin was not trying to be the hero when she used her own money on prizes for the kids; she wasn’t trying to do anything other than make her students happy. And in the process, she unknowingly provided one student with a monument for his deceased father.



To be perfectly honest, you are never going to be able to change the world, no matter how hard you try, no matter how good your intentions are. One person does not have the time or resources to accomplish such a feat. But if you can make a difference for simply one or two people, then you certainly have taken a step in the right direction. Even if your difference is buried six feet under.

___________________________________________



I love scotch. Scotchy, scotch, scotch. Here it goes down, down into my belly.

Edited by: Samr at: 9/5/05 11:16 pm