My Supports

I do believe, as human beings we are all interconnected. Some may think that they have superpowers to accomplish all their duties, needs, and their goals on their own but in real life it is impossible. We have to understand the importance of our connections to other human beings; others could be older, younger, same age or even young children. They are all important in our daily lives. For me it is the same with the environment of where we spend our day, if that place is contaminated with bad thought, attitudes and clutter it does not support us to be better. My beliefs, culture and attitudes also matter for me to conquer my daily challenges.

When I take a deep look at my own self, the current challenge I recognize is keeping up with the school while attending to my responsibilities and duties as a parent, a wife, a daughter, a teacher, and a friend. The supports I have every day, every moment for my success, I see lots of influences and supports. I decided to go back to school after loosing two of my biggest supporters. They are my own father and my former supervisor. They both kept on encouraging me to go back to school and I lost both of them last year, three months apart due to cancer. It is still a very tough period of my life and I still do struggle with it. One coping mechanism I came up with was honoring them the best possible way I can. But going to school and keeping up with it is impossible if not for my husband’s support and understanding.  He is my biggest supporter regarding everything and anything I do. My mother and my sister are always checking on me: how things are going with school, work and generally life but they are thousands of miles away from me. My dear friends are also my supports, the pillars holding me together at all times.

When I think about work life, I consider my co-workers, the children in the classroom and their families as my supports. Among my co-workers I have my dear friends who are there for me in good as well as hard times. They are my other family. “The children” in the classroom are the ones who create the happiest place on earth at work. They are the reason why I go to work every day energized.  My energy for the day is my family and my children at work. It is hard for my friends to understand why I do not take time off once in a while. But for me it is not necessary.  The families of the children are also my supports; they are the ones who send the children to school everyday. They work with me; they understand the importance of what happens in the classroom. They keep the children in the school.

 I know without these supports in my life, it could take a whole different turn for me.  I do believe in supporting each other. My parents believed in me to let me follow my heart. They supported me on my choices of life while guiding through tough patches. They showed me a lot by example than giving commands and I try to continue the same. I try to make an impact on others lives by being a great support, it can be a few minutes of support to a total stranger at the grocery store or years of support to a family of a child in the classroom. I believe it matters.  

“I’ve learned that every day you should reach out and touch someone. People love a warm hug or just a friendly pat on the back” Maya Angelou