Can't Sleep

Post #181: Dedicated to: Teen Idol; by Meg Cabot

It's 3:51 a.m. and I am not sleepy in the slightest. Damn you, green tea lemondade in the afternoon and earl grey in the evening. Should have seen this coming.

Since midnight, I've watched 3 episodes of Pushing Daisies, re-read Teen Idol (from the middle to the end), and lay in bed dreaming up study abroad scenarios and getting myself very pumped to be in Copenhagen. Definitely need to be up in about 5 hours and head to the strawberry festival in Oxnard. :)

So on Thursday I was back at my old high school helping out with yearbook distribution, and I got to see one of my favorite teachers, Mr. M. Needless to say, he didn't seem all that excited to see me—or maybe I'm just being typical me, over-thinking and over-analyzing everything. But anyway, it got me thinking...how much do high school teachers care? Students come and students go—good, bad, smart, lazy. Sure, they have favorites every year in every class, but what happens when said favorites graduate and leave? Teachers have hundreds and hundreds of new kids each year. Are they really expected to care about the handful of kids they especially liked or didn't like that year...for the rest of their lives? Do all the special students remain remembered? Is it just a fantasy that us students have when we think our favorite high school teachers look back fondly on their memories of us in their classes? Do teachers really not give a damn?

If I end up becoming a high school teacher somewhere down the line, I swear—I'm always going to remember those kids. Maybe not all of them, but at least the special ones, whether they were special because they were smart, motivated, lazy, or troublemakers. I won't forget their names and what they were like, even if I have to write it down.

p.s. chicken stir-fried udon was a success! Next up: buffalo chicken dip. (Can you tell I have a lot of chicken left over?)