Wednesday, October 28, 2009

Little "Roger"

For the last few of weeks and for the next coming weeks, I am teaching a 7th grade class about self awareness, staying in school, self budgeting, etc.
It is going well for the most part.

But there is one little boy.

He has shaggy blond hair.
Glasses.
Light eyes.
Skinny.
Baggy clothes.
Sweet kid.

And every time I look at him.
I see Roger.
And every time I interact with him, he reminds me of Roger.

Last week he told me how he wanted to be an architect.
How he loves looking at blue prints.
How his mom got him this new cool thing.
Roger was into drafting in high school.
I still have some of his supplies.

Then today as I was helping the class play a game in groups.
He was asking me a question about a particular "go back to the beginning" rule in the game.
His group was right.
He was wrong.
And he says to me: "Well, you can't blame a guy for trying."
I could not help but laugh instantly.
But I wanted to also cry.
This was Roger's philosophy most of the time in life.
He applied for all sorts of jobs, even if he was not exactly qualified.
He told me stories of how he flirted with every girl in a bar, even if he knew he might not get them.
Because "you can't blame a guy for trying."

I wonder if this will happen in the future when I meet other children.
Or people in general I guess.
I know Mr. X is a lot more like Roger than I initially thought.
And that scares me some times.
But I wonder if other children I teach will be little "Rogers".

I cannot help but feel a connection to this child.
Plus he actually participates in class.
Listens to me.

And tries.

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