A Lesson in Seeing Others
Starting middle school in a brand-new building may mean shiny lockers, spotless carpets, and flawless desks, but the internal struggles of an adolescent remain.
As I began Grade 8 in the just-built building down the road from my house, I only recognized a handful of classmates from my old middle school. My Grade 7 year was a tough one. My best friend went to another school, and I had to adjust to classes full of other awkward tweens who didn’t know me from elementary school. I was also failing math quizzes with a teacher who, instead of helping me, asked if I was asleep during class.
So, when I got the news that I’d be reunited with my best friend and get to start fresh at the newly built school, I felt the anticipation of someone getting the chance at a re-do of life.
Important advice
During an early lesson in a class taught by a teacher whom my friends and I respected, we were instructed to work on a group task. I watched as my friends were put into one group – while I was placed with two boys who I had never talked to before.
When I approached my teacher to ask if I could join my friends, he asked me why. I told him that I didn’t want to work with their ‘type.’
My teacher calmly took a breath, then told me he’d let me switch groups for that day – but added that I should never use the word ‘type’ again to describe someone I don’t even know. Without any judgment, he reminded me that people are more than what they seem on the outside – and said that, if I don’t give others a chance, then maybe I won’t deserve one either.
Changing my outlook
That advice has sat with me ever since, and I truly regret saying that about those boys whom I didn’t even know. My teacher could’ve sent me back to the group and refused to hear me out. Instead, he chose to hear the desperation in my voice – and saw the look in my eye that pleaded with him to allow me to join the comfort of my friends for the assignment. He made me feel seen in a good way, and yet challenged me to change my thinking. Ever since then, I haven’t used the word ‘type’ to describe anyone in a negative way: all thanks to my teacher. Whenever I look back on my middle school experience, that moment is one of the most impactful on changing my outlook towards others.
