Bitter Sweet Satisfaction

(Job Satisfaction-Part 2)

From the full mustache and the deep voice, it was obvious that puberty had long since past him. Still the boyish tangle of hair and his melancholy eyes spoke more of the years he'd fallen through the cracks. His folder told me that his school career is almost through; the system that somehow failed him is about to launch him into adult life.

He bent over the notebook paper, his brow creased with effort. "Spell want." I told him, and watched the large squiggly letters form. W-O-T. He relaxed waiting for the next word, while my heart broke. If he couldn't spell want I knew he couldn't spell caught.

As he sat before me I wondered who it was that first noticed he wasn't getting things. Had they just passed him by? How many failed papers or years of struggle had it taken for someone to reach out to this one? I felt angry! Here he was; there wasn't much time for him now. He had years of ground to cover and so little time.

Glancing over his profile I noted that he was "too old" for his grade. "Why hasn't anybody done something!" I wondered. Clearly he'd never even been given a second chance at a grade. The No Child Left Behind Act had been in effect when he was still in elementary school. "A lot of good it did him!" I send a silent angry vibe out to all the politicians. People trying to "make education better" who have never met kids like him, never had to sweat over a child. Here was one that all the politics hadn't done a thing for! They spout the catch phrases and wax eloquent over philosophy while hard working kids still don't make it.

Later, as we poured over a lists of sight words I again wondered how he's made it all these years. "Pro-pro-pro..." he sighed from exhaustion. "You've got that part, look at the rest." I encouraged him. "C-c-c," "Remember that c says /s/ here." "Cess.. pro, cess - process?" "Good!" As I looked forward over the list I could see numerous problems ahead: silent e's, long and sort vowels, digraphs. All cracks that he had fallen through.

Somewhere in the midst of counting all the rifts in his education I realized that I was happy. "This," I thought to myself, "is why I went to school!" So, for the first time, in a long time, I'm happy to wake up in the morning and head off to work. My student helped me realize how truly satisfying a job can be.