Pomp and Circumstance

These last few months teaching at the Alternative Learning Center (ALC) have taught me to appreciate the pomp and circumstance of graduation a bit more. As I look at all the smiling grads up on my fridge with magnets, one smile more than the others makes me pause and reflect on everyday miracles.

At first look glance, Amber is a pretty 18 year old girl with multiple facial piercings that she does herself. I think she has about 11 or 12 in all. On her neck she has a tattoo of the name of her younger sister that she fights with incessantly and the most obvious and talked about is the "F" word tatooed on the inside of her wrist, written in all swirly letters as if it is the most elegant word to ever be tattooed! What would make someone tattoo that word anywhere on their body? Especially their wrist?

Well, one day she came into my classroom for some help. I did not have the math expertise to help her but we ended up visiting for a while till her other teacher returned. I found out that last Memorial Day she was a teenage, single mom giving birth to twins. Both twins were stillborn. The trauma of it all caused she and her boyfriend to fight and say things that are hard to take back. They have since gone their separate ways. Amber has dropped out of school 4 times. As she approached the anniversary of the death of her babies she hoped to have her ex boyfriend accompany her to the gravesites. I'm not sure if he went...I was afraid to ask.

However, as graduation approached it looked like Amber was going to succeed. She had till 2 pm and she finished her last paper at about 10:30 that morning! I was there as she put the last period on her last paper. We double high-fived and I have never seen such a look of triumph. She had done it! She quickly took paper and pen and wrote the following poem that to me says it all. I will cherish my handwritten copy forever.

I celebrate me!
I am woth celebrating,
I am worth everything!
I am unique and in the whole world
there is only one "me."
There is only one person with my
talents,
experience,
and gifts.
No one can take my place!
I have immense potential to love,
and be loved,
to care,
create,
grow,
and sacrifice...
If I believe in myself!
-Amber Rowan

I went to graduation to cheer my friends kids but mostly to cheer my students. We had 10 out of the 150 graduates that were from the ALC! It was a record number! I cheered as each ALC kid received their diploma and knew that they had achieved the impossible considering the circumstances of their life. They deserved all the pomp and circumstance we could muster! I feel privileged to have been a small part of their high school experience and congratulate everyone in the class of 2009!