Goodbyes are HARD!
HARD!
REALLYY HARD!
Especially when
you are leaving a COUNTRY and will probably never see people again. Relationships have been established, grown, and
will not forgotten, even if the distance is a barrier.
When I came here, I had no idea what to expect. I remember being completely exhausted (partly
due to my “last minute marathon” choice) and completely overwhelmed. I entered a class with 18 little munchkins
staring at me and wanting to ask me EVERY. QUESTION. IMAGINABLE (and
unimaginable haha!)
Today my class had a goodbye party for me. We had cake and juice and all the students
gave me a scarf, signed coffee mug, flowers, and wrote a book where they each
wrote:
“Ms. Gabriel will be a great teacher
because_______________________.” (insert
heart-melting here!)
My heart has been touched, and my experience here has
changed me forever. One of the
best and hardest things about teaching is that “kids are your job.”
You are in constant contact and relationship with people. They are people that GOD loves. People that GOD created. What a responsibility-what a job! As a teacher, I can lead kids to the one that
created them through my words, actions, and conduct…but I also have the power
to turn my back as they struggle and sink into the world around them. I cannot take this lightly, and MUST daily
call upon the LORD for help, knowing that HIS grace can cover my inequities.
I’ve learned about myself as a person and a teacher. I had ups and downs, but choose to learn from
it all. I don’t know if international teaching is in my future, but these
experiences will still help me be a better teacher no matter what students will be in my classroom. I will be much more able to reach ESL
students, and I will be much more understanding to students that have different
cultural backgrounds.
I will miss the kids that I worked with, but I am also
looking forward to starting the next chapter in my life. I will always be a
student, because even as a teacher-I will constantly be learning….Learning from
my successes and failures, and open to new ideas and new students (who are all unique
and require different things from me).
HONESTLY I am terrified,
but I am even more EXCITED. Soon,
I will officially be…