We, the Class of 2022, ...

In 2012,

    2022 seemed far away,

    but as the calendar turned to 2022,

    I think back to my first-ever class

        where, daily, these third graders would recite together (complete with motions):

            We, the class of 2022, 

                will do our best

                    so we will get good grades

                    so we will get to college

            We will have fun

               but get the work done.

    It was their mission statement

        that we crafted together

            and it sounds good as an end-in-mind

                but our daily reality was far from it.

That first semester of teaching was the darkest season of my life.

    I was a shell of a person,

        barely putting one foot in front of the other,

        anxious when every weekend would inevitably wind down,

        dreading yet another Monday

            where I was failing as a first-year teacher

    I had zero control of my classroom,

        and there was very little learning taking place.

    In many ways,

        I failed them.

And, ten years later,

    in this, their graduation year,

    I wonder how many of them have "made it"

I wonder about Michael, Lindsey, Jamarion, Alora, Dewey, Shantel, De'Myah

    Are they still in school?

    Are they getting good grades?

    Are they persevering and rising above their challenges?

Sadly, I feel that, instead of helping them rise above,

    I gave them yet another obstacle to overcome.

(poem 1-7-22)

(This was one of my first days of teaching, back when I was hopeful and idealistic. It was the calm before the storm.)