"If you can take it, you can make it." Pete Zamperini, Unbroken
Recently, thanks to a grant, students and staff at
my school took in the movie Unbroken
and did activities on resiliency.
One
activity in particular was quite revealing. Students were to write letters to a
middle school stud ent relaying to the younger teen the importance of not
quitting on school but staying true to the end. The high school students
imparted the wisdom they had gathered on their life journey and in a much more transparent
manner than expected, imparted their advice to their middle school
counterparts. My students repeated advice given to Louie from his brother,
words that stayed with him. “If you can take it, you can make it.”
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louis_Zamperini |
Some
of the letters amazed me what my students faced regularly. Facts I hadn’t known about them were revealed
in these letters, helping me to understand my students better. My heart twisted
reading some of the stories. No young person should have to go through what
some of these have endured. Yet these teens persisted. They refused to quit,
even though some people told these resilient souls they’d never make it.
The
next step in this Unbroken activity will be for some of our students to talk to
eighth graders and share a little bit about themselves. This is a win-win for both groups of
students. The middle school students will hear a message of resiliency from an
age group they look up to and respect and the students from my school will gain
strength from sharing their story and the realities they’ve learned along the
way.
I’m
proud of my students. Life isn’t fair, I tell my students, but how they deal with
the unfair situations shows their character. Character is formed through making
choices, and the choices they make reveal their resiliency.
Honestly? This collection
of young people who make up my classes don’t always show good judgment in what
they choose. But in the end, they don’t
quit on themselves or on school.They know if they can take it, they can make it.
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