Take a moment and be grateful

I am grateful for the way I was brought up and the life that I have now. I ask my students in ENG 110 (composition) to write a narrative essay about an event in their life that has changed them in some way. The things that some of them have experienced is astounding. I just read one where one of my students witnessed his mother being shot and killed by their father when he was very young.  Another student grew up with two brothers and a single mom who raised them.  She did everything she could to survive and that included selling drugs.  She sold crack in NY and was able to provide a house and nice things for her sons until she got caught and was sent to jail.  Another student was beaten up so bad she was in a coma.  The man of her dreams was the one who was doing the beating. Another student lived in Liberia when she was young.  Rebels invaded the country and she watched as they killed her brother and uncle.  She then traveled across the country to live in a refugee camp for 5 years.  Another student suffers from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder from being deployed 4 seperate times and lost so many friends while at war. Another student lost a child to sudden infant death syndrome and then lost her husband.  The amazing stories are just beyond my comprehension.

I cannot even come close to understanding their experiences but I am appreciative to them for sharing their stories.  Everyone has a story and everyone has their own triumphs over adversity and I am no one to say that one person struggled more than another but I will say that my students are individuals that are trying to improve themselves through education and opportunity.  They have lived a life that many of us will never know and I believe that someone is raising them up to get over those obstables and memories that can destroy a person's spirit.  They have shared their stories with me and I felt compelled to share them with you.  There are people in my classroom that have endured immeasurable pain and evil yet they are still sitting in my classroom.  Be grateful and humbled with the life you have and the blessings you have been given.