The crying in the homeroom

I'm on a posting spree!

I had a short chat with a colleague this afternoon that I felt like sharing here, too.

In the past ten days, I have comforted three different girls crying (or nearly so) in my homeroom. This has been an absolute delight. I am completely serious. Let me explain.

Homeroom is ten minutes at the beginning of every morning. I was assigned 11th grade girls and I have 9 of them. An interesting lot--extremely diverse and a little bit trying at time. I have come to love them very much, even though it's only ten minutes a day and I only teach two of them.

In all three cases, the crying was about stress. Junior year is intensely stressful and we're kind of at a fever pitch right now. It's tough.

With all three, I listened to what they had to say. I offered perspective. I offered tissues. I really just allowed them the space to let off a little bit of tension before heading into classes for the day.

I know that for some people, the idea of dealing with the hormones and emotions of a bunch of teenagers sounds daunting, maybe annoying, and maybe it seems like it would be awkward. But what I shared with my colleague this afternoon is that this part, the part where they cry in my room about the tough chemistry test they have coming up--this is one of the reasons I love this job.

It is utterly wonderful to me when these kids are willing to be so honest with me--to be vulnerable without embarrassment. I am honored, as corny as it sounds, that they trust me with those moments.

On top of that, when they let me in on these things, I have new opportunities to look out for them and their interests behind the scenes. And that bonds me to them even more strongly.

So that's it. The part where they sometimes cry in homeroom. I consider this a perk of the job. It's a weird job, like I said. Wouldn't trade it.