Remember that student who you knew struggled in just about every subject, and reads very little?
He or she is probably very quiet in most cases. The only time you may have to get after this student is when they’re off task, not listening and occasionally talking. They are never disruptive or aggressive, but timid would be a great word to describe them. There are many factors that come into play with these types of students. Life experiences are what makes us who we are!
“What, are you stupid”. Words spoken from a teacher. “He’s just a daydreamer.” Words spoken by a school official. “You flunked…… flunker!” Words spoken from other students. In this Part 2 of my Limitless post, I would like to give you a glimpse into my school experience. The student I described, was me. As early as I can remember, I struggled. I was quiet and timid throughout school, but I am sure my parents would disagree. I can remember sitting at the kitchen table on most nights getting help with homework from my mom. We both became frustrated often. I was sent to other classes for assistance and remediation. Reading groups were a color or animal, but you always knew when you were in the low group. I can remember very vividly, choosing library books based on what others chose. Knowing I could not read them or comprehend what I read. I only chose books that were popular, who remembers, “Choose Your Own Adventure Series” books? Everyone was reading those when I was in Elementary school.
I could go on forever telling you of all my school struggles, but that is not the purpose of this post. It was in my Freshman year of High School when a teacher asked me if I was Dyslexic. I was instantly offended, like he was calling me stupid or something. Right about the same time my sister was in her first year of college and a teacher was trying to help here through some class work and wondered why she struggle so much. This was the moment our supportive parents wanted answers to why we both struggled so much in school, so they had us tested. Sure enough, we were diagnosed with Dyslexia.
So, you may be asking what does this have to do with being Limitless? Well, I could have just accepted the fact that I was incapable of learning and growing, but I did not. Instead I chose to work hard and find solutions. I knew many answers could be found in books, and therefore to this day I love reading so much. I struggled with reading as a student, but now it has become part of me. I can remember teasing my dad as he always had two or three books he was reading. Now I am the same way. We can limit ourselves with our past experiences, or we can embrace them and use them as tools to develop ourselves to something magnificent.
I went into education where I could help students like me. If I could speak to my younger self, I would tell him to not limit his self-belief. By all accounts I could have been a student that never went to college, because of my school experiences. Instead, I was always hungry to learn and grow. Later, I felt the need to explore leadership and growing not only myself but others too. That’s another step in my journey, that I will share later.
Is there something you wanted to try, but didn’t because of your limited thinking?
Is there someone you know who you believe is limiting themselves, and how could you help
