School will teach you to be your own hero

{What Students Really Need to Hear}

As I was watching this video, every single word created a power within, igniting my soul. 
I felt my heart holding onto the reality and truth of these lessons. 
My wish is for everyone to watch this, every single person that has or will be a student!

Looking back on my school days, I loved school! I really did. But it was HARD!
I wasn't the smartest, but I gave it my best.
I didn't get straight A's, but I got many.
I loved learning. I loved writing. I loved math. I loved giving presentations.
I didn't understand everything the teacher taught, but I gave it my all.
I worked hard and put in all the effort I had to offer.

But in reality, as much as I loved the 
self improvement that was associated with an education,
there were days when going to school was rough. 
The socialization that comes with this atmosphere did not come easy to me.
School and I had a love/hate relationship.
I often felt unnoticed, the shy girl that could never seem to have ease at making friends.
Walking the halls alone during lunch on several occasions.
Longing to be a part of something that mattered - a group, a club, a clique.
I think of the days I sat on my bed dreaming of being homecoming queen.
I reflect back on the times I stayed home crying because I hadn't gotten asked to the dance.
Days filled with anticipation for the future,
just wanting to a mom and be done with the heartbreaking teen years.

Moments when all it took was someone to say "Hi" to me in the hall, 
and I all the sudden felt as if all my worries seemed to float away.
Times I would just cry to my mom about friends leaving me out,
or nights sleepovers were happening and I hadn't been invited.

Reflecting back, I was happy, yes absolutely 
100% happy because I was living my life right!
However, life is still full of challenges no matter how righteous
you may be, and as happy as I was, those years were really difficult for me.
These situations and instances were real and heartbreaking,
sometimes I felt like no one ever understood me.
Believing not one person knew what it felt like to be the 
shy girl dreaming of being a cheerleader.

I look back now and laugh. Life wasn't all that hard.
The trials then, they were real and they hurt, 
but thank goodness I went through them.
They shaped me. They built character. 
These challenges and events gave me resilience to many hardships
I had no idea would later on cross my path.

School is amazing! The knowledge that it teaches you is certainly valuable.
But the trials and obstacles that were put on my path were perhaps
the most profitable blessings I gained from that high school diploma.

The lessons I learned from not fitting in taught me to be bold 
and march to the beat of my own drum.

The tears I cried the day everyone was at Senior Ball but me,
turned into a ray of hope that I have the ability to be happy being on my own.

The fears that filled my soul wondering if I could ever be confident,
taught me how to turn my doubts into faith.

The heartache I felt after not being chosen as a police cadet,
offered me an opportunity at rejection 
which would later be an anchor to my unseen future.

Everything I went through, every emotion that I felt, every tear that I cried
prepared me for the shaky roads I would have ahead.
While I have yet to go through every trial I will ever face, 
I am certain that my school days gave me the necessary foundation
I needed to conquer the storms that will come pouring down
in this beautiful roller coaster we call life.

Not only did the lessons I learned in those walls help build resilience in me
for the adversity in the years ahead,
but they have created valuable experiences to prepare me to be a better mom.
I've been there, I've felt that and I can now help and comfort my children
when the day comes in a way I wouldn't have been able to without those trying times.
Am I grateful I faced all the heartbreak and loneliness?
Yes! Absolutely! I wouldn't trade it for anything.

I will be able to cry with my daughter when her heart gets broken,
because I too will know how that feels.
I will be able to practice patience when she feels like giving up, 
because I know the lessons she is going to learn and the character she is going 
to develop as she fights the trials of her young student years.