“You may not always remember what someone does or says but you always remember how they make you feel,” said Maya Angelou.
Here is how it went down: A young hopeful teacher is working in her classroom. The classroom looks a bit like a dungeon and the young hopeful teacher did spend almost two hours sitting in the corner of the classroom when she first saw it. She was praying and wishing and hoping and imagining all the way she wanted this class to be and what she wanted it to hold. This was a safe space for her, a comforting space for her. It was a space in which she would arrive ninety minutes before the learners came and leave two or three hours after they were gone, if not more. This was not a space the young hopeful teacher had envisioned being in but it was where she had been offered a job and job equals money and money isn’t everything but it’s what she needed and wanted some of at that point.
One day, Young Hopeful Teacher is waiting for a meeting to begin. It’s happening in her classroom, and she has only been in this space for less than two weeks. Another Teacher, maybe young and not so hopeful, walks into the classroom for the meeting. She looks around the room. And looks and looks. Though it would appear as if she was looking for something, the Young Hopeful Teacher has not been working in this school long enough to have too many materials so nothing is hidden. Another Teacher keeps looking around and even settles on the classroom map, as Guy Teacher and That Teacher walk in for the meeting. Another Teacher is fixated on this classroom map and wonders about a part of the map. This piques the curiosity of That Teacher and they observe it together.
Eventually, Another Teacher asks, “What does this symbol on the map mean?”
Head tilted to the side, Young Hopeful Teacher replies, “I am not sure.”
“Well, didn’t this come with a map key?” Another Teacher asks.
The tone is abrupt, but Young Hopeful Teacher is not deterred as she responds, “I took the map key off so it could fit better on the wall.” Of her classroom, the one in which she spent all the hours sitting on the floor thinking about how to lead with love and nothing else.
“Well that doesn’t make any sense! We study maps so why would you remove the map key?!”
Now, Young Hopeful Teacher is confused at why someone would feel so upset about such a mundane thing, but Young Hopeful Teacher has no time for this kind of nonsense. But knows this will make her (and her friends) giggle later on.
**SPOILER ALERT: this would be the first of MANY comments Another Teacher would make to Young Hopeful Teacher.
Now, this story can function as a funny narrative to share with a friend over drinks as you commiserate over the wildness of what comes towards you. This story can function as a reminder that people are carrying so much in this world that if they aren’t aware of it all it that they will try to put that so much on you. This story can function as a reminder or mantra of how when you are resolute in
yourself,
your faith,
your being
that no one foolish person has the ability to take that away.
You may not always remember what someone does or says but you always remember how they make you feel.
You always remember how they make you feel
You will always remember how they make you
You always remember how
You will always remember
You always
always
