Oh my goodness! I just stumbled through the door! After braving this crazy weather!
...but thank you, Lord, for the rain. It looks like I won't need to get my car washed after all :D
My second week of placement is officially over. Even though it's only been a week since last week (that makes sense, right?) I feel strangely different about all of it. I think the fact that it is a four day placement had me nervous and so last week I was very quiet and hung back a lot. I felt kind of out of place because I was the "new kid" and didn't have any relationships with anyone there, leaving me to do a lot more observing and listening than anything. But this week? Well, not that the verbal floodgates opened and I'm suddenly best friends with everyone, but things have a taken a turn for the better. I have interacted a lot more with the faculty and staff as well as the students and even made a "connection" with one student in particular. It's all very exciting! I feel more comfortable where I'm at, not just as an intern but as a part of the school and just.. in my skin, overall.
You think that just because you went through high school that you know all about it, but what I've really learned is that I know nothing. It's been an ever-surprising but pleasant experience, revisiting the high school years through the eyes of the students around me. Some things never change: like the groups of friends, the cafeteria food and having to get to class on-time.. but other things are constantly shifting and mysterious. Go figure.
God has taught me a lot about peace these past two weeks, as I hear and see crazy things all around me. He's reminded me that to help someone, you truly have to love them first. It's too easy to blame the kids and shake them until they want to give up their old habits because they're too annoyed to put up with you any longer (as if it were that easy), but the more I get to know the students the clearer it becomes to me that they are each unique and amazing individuals with stories of their own. I love it, I really do.
