A few times a year the school I work at has a special meeting. At that talk we go over all the students who are facing beyond-the-norm problems.
Obviously I am not going to go into any great detail but I will say these problems run from academic troubles to emotional issues to recent divorces or loss in the family to domestic abuse. Needless to say it is not an overly cheery meeting, even if there are moments of laughter.
There are two things that stand out to me at these meetings. The first is how hard it is to tell what hardships people face just from appearances. A smiling face can hide great tragedy and hearing the tale could almost make you cry.
The second is how much those I work want to help the students they work with. I’ve worked at many different schools but this one might be the most uniformly dedicated to wanting to make a difference for the better in the lives of their students.
I would go on more, but three plus hours on intense concentration in my second language still exhausts me. So much more tiring than even a full day of just simple chatter.
Deadly Troubadour 