Making A Difference

I had a student last year who had a bad family life. Her dad committed suicide at the end of her 6th grade year, so the wounds were still fresh when we got her. Her mom is a year or two younger than me, which made her 14 when she had the girl. This student was one of my favorites. She had a lot of personality, and got into some trouble, but she was so much fun. She had some trouble passing at the beginning of the year because grades weren't important to Dad, but between us an Mom, she got her act together. This year, she's actually in an honors class and doing great.

I saw her after school one day in tutoring, and she kept saying, "Oh my God!" I got on to her in a nonthreatening way, and told her that it offended me. When she kept saying it, this time out of habit, she would grin and apologize. That was a few weeks ago. Today, I sat across from her in tutoring again. She was talking to the girl next to her, and she said, "Oh my gosh!" I got a huge grin on my face, and she said..."I know. You're rubbing off on me." I told her in a goofy way that that sent my heart all aflutter. Then I offered to move up to the high school with her next year to keep an eye on her.