Ok God...

I get it.

First of all, I did find out that my insurance company approved my test and I'm going in at 9:30 on Thursday morning. By the end of Thursday, I hope, we will have all the test results back and will know what's going on for sure. Perhaps even have some chances...I hope to know so much more at this time on Thursday.

However,

Today was critical thinking day in Reading...or starting to get into it. We talk about cultural universals and we talk about disagreeing and learning from other points of view and we begin to work on creating our learning atmosphere where we can safely share our points of view without fear and hope to learn from others. This was in conjunction with a Time magazine article on Children and Mental Health. Inevitably, this turns into a discussion of medication and diagnosis and all that sort of stuff. People reveal what they've been diagnosed with or meds they've been on and other things that really bring the class to a new level. It's an enlightening day for everyone. I share some of my background as well to even the field.

Well, at the end of class, one of my students, who is in my class five days a week (in fact, transferred into one so she would have this schedule), stayed behind to ask how one knows if they need help. How do you answer this? So I answered personally and explained when I know I need to talk to someone or need help. How I feel.

This girl just broke down. She's so happy and fun in class, but she's been having a heck of a time due to financial issues and a recent miscarriage. The miscarriage was just tearing her up inside and she couldn't deal with it. I pointed her toward our counseling services and some other places to go (of course she doesn't have insurance to get more help), and offered to be an ear (warning her that I would probably cry with her). Watching her leave was like watching someone with a weight lifted off her shoulders. She felt so much better getting that off her chest. She had told me how her boyfriend was upset that she wouldn't talk to anyone about anything and how she had trouble opening up.

If nothing else, I'm glad I could listen. I'm glad I could say that I sort of understood and that I could be there. Ok God, I get the point...