Bring It On!

The beginning of a new school year is looming. And this year it feels as if summer was just getting underway when I happened to glance over my shoulder and spy a junior-high ninja assassin just before I am struck in the back by a katana, throwing star, or even worse—a rubber chicken. Yeah, it’s sudden, quick, and mostly painless.
Actually, as I have started new ventures and met new people in different endeavors, I’ve had to introduce myself on several occasions. Most gasp or cluck their tongues when I say that I teach junior high English. The subtle ones slightly suck in their breath or barely shake their heads as if paying homage at a viewing.

So I’ve been thinking: is it really that bad?

Think about it, I get to spend my time with hundreds of smelly, pubescent geeks who are all trying to be cooler than the doofus next to him. I don’t have to mention the drama of twelve to fifteen year old girls who compare every guy schlepping down the hall to ice-cold effeminate vampires or abnormally abbed werewolves. The mustiness of Scout camp funk mixed with a cornucopia body lotion scents creates a musk that puts the zoo to shame.

Now I get to take these self-absorbed entities whose main concerns are texting, sleeping, eating, and __________. Insert any hobby here, except Pokémon cards because we’re in junior high now, people; it’s just not cool any more. (Don’t worry; I won’t tell anyone that Jigglypuff and Bulbasaur are still your favorites.)…and I get to teach them Language Arts. Most would rather go to the dentist…

Or so they say. Most kids, and adults for that matter, find pleasure in story whether reading (including being read to), writing, or more informally, gossiping. Story is what makes our lives complete. We communicate our lives in story, and usually it improves with each retelling, right? Think about your glory stories. How big was that catch? How pretty was she? How many defenders did you evade? How fast were you going? Now be honest with yourself. Truth and fiction blur. And when we get to analyze the intricacies of language, the essence of communication, the reason for being a human being, we find elements of nature (human or otherwise) where we can make connections and form lifelong bonds with friends (real or fictional) and texts (informational or fictional) and universal truths (which are seldom fictional).

Oh, yes. I get to help these little darlings identify these themes in literature and in their lives, turn them into my army of zombies for a short period of time, and send them forth to take over the world by first taking control of their own universes and then learning how to influence the spheres of those around them. Yep. That’s what I get to do.

Openly the students moan and complain - they gripe just because they want to be heard or to fit in – but covertly they like it. It’s just like taking medicine. You know it’s good for you and it’ll make you better. No one is supposed to enjoy gagging down that nasty thick goo. But secretly, you know you crave that over-sweet cherry cough-syrupy taste. For some, amoxicillin (the fruity pink stuff for ear infections) almost becomes an addiction. But we still grumble about having to swallow it.

Students see the truth in learning, and in literacy; and even though some may struggle with reading or writing complete sentences, they crave it. They come back for more willingly, even though they pretend to be more interested in the new girl in the next row.

They have urges, some of which I won’t discuss, but one that I will ramble on for a little longer is their primal desire to create and share. Most of the time it comes slowly, but I get to be there to witness, to help, to clean up the ashes when they “accidently” drop some weird chemical compound they found growing in their lockers. In short, I witness growth. I get to see them become.

So, about my job? Is it really that bad? You may have hated junior high. I know I’ve tried blocking some of the more painful moments from my own past. But it’s these growing pains that make us who we are.

They may sting for a moment, or a decade, but they shape us. I get to help kids shape themselves.

Is it really that bad? That junior high thing? No.

I love my job!