I left my class tonight feeling better than I have in a long time…all it takes is one student to get it. To get me. To dare, for a moment, to reveal a little bit about herself and start a dialog with me…herself…the world.
It makes everything worth it. Until the next time. Because, there’s always a next time. There’s always a new student. There’s always a need.
You see, I don’t teach traditional students, and certainly not in a traditional setting, so it takes everything in me to figure out what I need to do to break down their walls…break past their barriers…help them see that they have a voice. They have important things to say.
Part of it is helping them see that they are beautiful. That where words have been used to hurt, they can now be used to inspire, or heal, or change, or anything they want them to be.
As I was leaving, a student came back to tell me that she was going to enjoy this class because, as she said, “Words are my thing.”
I understand that. They are my thing, too.
But there are many different ways to communicate. With music. Painting. Dance. And this amazing music video in ASL. There’s a fantastic message for all of us in this beautiful interpretation of Christina Aguilera’s “Beautiful.”