Do Work.

I have been inspired to write again tonight by some of the students that attend Menomonee Falls High School. Due to privacy reasons, I will not say their names or what hour they are in, but leave it to the open mind on which these students may be.

The conversations that I have had with students over the past several years have been memorable. There are a few students who have turned me onto motivational speaking to inspire them and myself when we need a little boost. One of the most memorable things I took away from one of these is now something that I live by. One line of a speech inspired me to live my life this way… “when you want to succeed as bad as you want to breathe, then you’ll be successful.” This is definitely very powerful words, but there are a few students in my math classes that I see this effort come from them every day. When I see these students working hard, it reminds me that there are so many students who want to breathe, not only in math, but life outside of MFHS. When I see this drive and the determination, it motivates me to do more and to become a better teacher. When I am able to grade a test from one of those students who are giving maximum effort that makes all of my time and effort worth it. If I could find something to motivate all students everyday (other than using candy) I would feel more accomplished that giving all of my students A’s.

These students have (or are on the verge) of finding something within them that will motivate them to be successful in life. These students want to breathe I can only hope they can’t catch their breath later on in life.

I try my best to live by this motto in my life. Sometimes it doesn't always show and we all get tired, but whether it’s working at the high school or working at the fire house, I try to find a reason to get up everyday and go get what it will take to be successful. 

Podcasts

The past few weeks have been quite the emotional roller coaster. From considering to not buy a house, to making the decision to fully submerge myself into a career that truly inspires me…ACT style. I should be so grateful to have the opportunities this early in my life to be making such big decisions. Working with Ulrich everyday has inspired me to think differently and try to understand what students are going through everyday. One thing he has turned me to is listening to podcasts, specifically ones that change the way we think about life. Here are a few things that I’ve taken away from several of the podcasts that I’ve listen to..

1.       So often in life we are given an opportunity and forget to realize that every moment is a given moment and a new gift. There are so many moments in life that we don’t take full advantage of. I look back and wish that I would have taken advantage to everything that has been offered to me so far in life. I have passed up so many things that I feel as though I haven’t really lived up to the full potential. I believe that we don’t seize the moment because we are afraid of change. Everyone struggles with change, but yet, we come out growing and learning more than ever before.

2.       Ulrich has inspired me to firmly believe that everyone loves to learn. Although it does take some people a long time to truly find what it is they love to learn about, one thing we don’t learn about enough is ourselves. We don’t take enough time to stop and actually take advantage of those given moments. We try and fly through life without slowing down to enjoy the little things in life. We don’t take the time to fully grasp the ideas and bigger pictures of what life is truly about.

3.       I heard podcast about making mistakes and understand what it means to be vulnerable in life. It talked about how we have these ideas of what it means, but try to hide this characteristic. We, as a society, don’t allow other people to see those true, genuine moments of into our lives (eventually we do). I truly, truly believe that since we hide this, we don’t take advantage of those moments that have been given to us in life. We don’t take the risk necessary to grow as people. We build up our walls and don’t want them to be torn down, in fear of someone causing our world to collapse. We NEED to take those risks and opportunities to seize those given moments that have been given to us.

     These are only a few thoughts that I have taken away from over the weekend. I know these are not new ideas or concepts, but need to remind myself that stopping and seeing the bigger picture in life is what I need to do.

     

     Find a reason everyday to wake up and go get it.