Just this past week, a former student contacted me via email. She is one of my kids whom I talked about not too long ago. We've been in touch off and on since I left the high school where she was my student for two years, and she's told me tales of her college life. Her email seemed like an ordinary update until she wrote there was a lot to tell me and she didn't know where to begin. Things like Is she dropping out? or Is she getting married? or Is she pregnant? crossed my mind only because I've received those updates. While I support my students no matter what, my hope is that those things happen after college or trade school are complete and careers are underway. But as I read further, I only became more alarmed. I audibly gasped and had to reread her words to make sure I was really seeing what I thought I saw. My confirmation gave way to a feeling of shock then heaviness, and I sat there, staring at her email.
My former student wrote to tell me she is taking a leave of absence from school because she was diagnosed this past December with a rare form of cancer. She is getting chemotherapy and only on her 3rd of 14 rounds. She's lost her hair, eyelashes, most of her eyebrows, energy, and sometimes, her hope. Her words provided me a small window into her world as it is right now--a world where nothing feels permanent and nothing is taken for granted.
I feel jolted, in a way. While my complaints are legitimate, my quitting attitude is not. I have a choice--I have lots of choices--and all my 20 year-old student can choose is the way in which she fights this potentially fatal disease.
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