*When I read a fairly hopeless post on
the social media page of my former university student who is an elementary
teacher and whose words questioned whether she was making any difference in her
students’ lives at all, I responded in the following manner:
"I can relate, ______. Though I have
counseled thousands, taught hundreds and mentored dozens, there have been times
when I wondered if I was achieving anything at all. There have been those who
have let me down altogether, who are mediocre, and are content to remain stuck.
However, with the benefit of time, the verbal 'thank you's' and written
letters, and the change which has been obvious in the maturing lives of those
whom I have impacted has convinced me that, "well, yes, you have made a
difference." I love an adage I once saw at a graduation exercise. "My
students are living messages to a time that I will never see." You are a
giant upon whose shoulders the next generation stands. You are a link in an
unbroken chain which stretches backwards into infinity.
One of my counseling
interns once spontaneously said the following words to me... "Dr. Bill, I
don't want to disappoint you. I'll go for you when you can't go. I'll speak for
you when you can no longer speak. I'll reach, teach and keep people in your
name when you have gone on to your reward."
I believe your students are in
so many ways, shapes and forms saying the same thing to you, my dear former
student and friend. Hang in there, Dana, and stay encouraged. The end is not
yet distinguishable from the beginning. The tale has not yet been told. The
truth has not yet been found out. Days that have not yet been lived out, and
seasons which have not yet dawned will make everything manifest, and may offer
the kind of assurance which is sorely lacking at this present moment in time."
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