Why we do what we do.

On Friday, two of my favorite former students (read that as, my favorite student, and his best friend) came to see me at work. They go to one of the other high schools in the district and they came all the way to my school to see me and another teacher they had in middle school.

The more I talked to them on Friday, the more I was blown away by the young men they have become. Saying, ma'am and sir to anyone they talked to. Shaking hands at an introduction. Talking about how they want to go to Duke or Baylor and become a surgeon and OSU or A&M to study aeronautical engineering. They told me about how they are going to go to junior college this summer to take government and economics dual credit so they can have room in their schedules to take 4 (yes, 4!) AP classes next year. They explained that they didn't hang out with certain people anymore because they do not have the same goals in life as them. They know their class rank and are doing everything they can to raise it in the next 1.5 years. They have already signed up to take the SAT twice before the end of their junior year. See? I was blown away. These are two students that don't come from the greatest home life, got in trouble in MS and have a hard road to travel. But they get it. And they get it as 17-year-old. They are special young men.

And I am just lucky enough that they feed me enough information about their lives to get to watch it all happen. Even from across town. They assured me I would get an invitation to their HS graduation next year and it wouldn't surprise me at all if in 5 years I get an invitation to their college graduations. And in 9 years, I expect to get an invitation to Ismael's med school graduation.

And I walked away remembering that THIS is why we do what we do. And my heart is full of joy.

-Cynthia