Starfishes

I now kind of officially have a schedule! I'm in the same classes everyday, and though we don't have our focus lists yet- I do have an idea of who they will be. If I could make one whole block period be my focus list- I would in a heart beat. But then I'd be missing out on this one starfish, who I know I can make an impact on their life.
Some brief briefing on what a starfish is, City Year has a bunch of founding stories which when all compiled together are sort of a mission statement of principles for the organization. One of the founding stories is called "The Starfish Story", this segment is taken from the Idealist Handbook and considered part of the mandatory uniform for all City Year members.

"A young girl was walking along the beach upon which thousands of starfish had been washed up during a terrible storm. When she came to each starfish, she would pick it up, and throw it back into the ocean. People watched her with amusement.
She had been doing this for some time when a man approached her and said, 'Little girl, why are you doing this? Look at the beach! You can't save all these starfish. You can't begin to make a difference!'
The girl seemed crushed, suddenly deflated. But after a few moments, she bent down picked up another starfish, and hurled it as far as she could into the ocean. Then she looked up at the man and replied, 'Well, I made a difference to that one!'
The old man looked at the girl inquisitively and thought about what she had done and said. Inspired, he joined the little girl in throwing starfish back into the sea. Soon others joined, and all the starfish were saved."

This story means basically, that even though you may see many students who need help- but do not be discouraged, because even helping just one makes a big difference. So we refer to our students who might be the ones we help very much as our starfish student.

I think I know who one of those starfish students will be for me. It's this kid who everyone in the class harps on and the whole school knows about. This student is infamous for their negative behavior and non-chalant attitude about everything. But I am inspired. Today this kid made a little bit of progress. And that wasn't a lot compared to any one else, but there was this tiny tiny bit of engagement that I hadn't seen before. And all because I cared, cared enough to show up. So everyday from now on I will be a little more inspired to care, for this kid.

Daily Hero:
Having a home to go to where support and love are expectations and not surprises. In Illinois and Texas :)