I've recently realized that while I spent a good deal of my childhood responding to being told I should grow up to be a teacher with, oh hell no, I'm actually incredibly interested in education and the way children are raised.
That being said, I'm not about to tell you how to raise your children. One of my older sisters just had a baby, and I would never dream of telling her what to do with her child - so I'm not about to correct strangers.
At a convention recently I went to a panel called Educating Through Play, and it was taking a look at how we can educate children through many different mediums. This particular arguments focus was in the favor of games - while I know we have a lot of work to do to integrate it into the system and a lot of problems to address, I think it's a fantastic idea. I've always been a little put off by how rigid the school system is, and have wondered if there wasn't a different way to go about things.
At the convention I was making my tiny origami stars - since I carry the kit with me everywhere, and I can't ever seem to sit still - and ended up being asked about it by the couple I'd just been discussing alternative education styles with. I could have told them my usual story but ended up coming at it from a completely different angle.
"What are you making?" She asked. Mini origami stars, I responded. I have trouble sitting still. "So does my son," she said, "the one with ADHD." We were quiet for a minute and then she said, "What do you do with them all?" Usually I wait for some version of this question and then launch into my whole project spiel. It takes a while, maybe as long as five minutes, and I usually get a glazed over look from whoever asked me the question. Or if I give my short spiel - I'm raising money for research into a cure for ALS - I usually get a confused look, or an uninterested one. Sometimes a confused look followed by an uninterested look. My point being, the conversation doesn't have a lot of places to go after that. So, instead, I said:
"Do you know what Lou Gehrig's disease is?" She shook her head and her husband said, "Isn't that what that baseball player had?" And I said, "Yes. His name was Lou Gehrig. The disease is also called ALS. I forget what the letters stand for. Sometimes I just call it Als." They both laughed. The lady asked if I had ALS and I said no. "My biological mother had it, she died a few years ago." They both gave me really sympathetic looks and then looked back at the stars - which I was still making. "You know," I said, "It was really hard for my baby sister and I. She was only 15 at the time. I was in my early 20's. There weren't many places we could turn for comfort then. I mean, you're not supposed to lose your parents that young. Neither of us were really prepared. What do you do?" More sympathetic looks. "I was in college at the time - I ended up dropping out. I just couldn't concentrate on anything. My adopted mother taught me how to knit around then, and I started making these stars, and they both really helped me get through the day. Repetitive movements. Something pretty in the end. It helped me focus." More nods. And maybe they were just really nice people, but they were still interested in the story. "After a while - like, maybe a year? I realized I had way too many of these stars. I needed to do something with them. Can you imagine a trash collector picking up a giant trash bag full of mini origami stars?" They laughed. "It's kind of a long boring story, but in the end I decided I should raise money to help." It came out sort of odd, because the line we were standing in had started to move. "You mean, to help the kids who have parents with ALS?" The mom said. And it hit me. Yeah, I should raise money for research into a cure. But what about the kids, the families, the parents, the loved ones who are left behind? Who are struggling along? Who helps them? I happened to have an excellent support system in place, but my baby sister still struggles with this. And it's been 3 years.
So I made up my mind, right then. I'm going to research some outlets for victims of ALS, and try and focus on helping the children. It makes sense - they're the ones most attracted to these stars anyway, in their gumball machines.
It's something to think about. I'm also looking to put together a team, to help with outreach for this. Any volunteers?
I hope people are getting the help they need.
I hope I can help people somehow, even a little bit.
I wish I could magically make everything better for someone.
