"Perfect" - Week 1

When I was young I imagined that where I grew up was no different than the rest of the world. I imagined that most kids lived on farms and that school was a few ten minuets from homes. I never imagined that the rest of the world could be any different. As I got older I started to learn that not everyone had cows in their backyard, or the luxuries of a town being close. Today, I realize this more as I uprooted myself from State College, PA to plant myself in Westfield, PA for four months as I student teach agriculture courses at Cowanesque Valley High School.

"Perfect" is the first word that comes to my mind I reminisce on my first week. My first week of student teaching I got to sit down and learn about my students. The students taught me a lot! They taught me about where they grew up. They taught me that my imagination of a perfect town from when I was younger was not realistic.  Mainly, my students taught me that not everything is perfect.

I come from a family with five sisters, parents that have been together for 20+ years, and a dairy farm that goes back 96 years (5 generations). Some of my students do not have siblings, have split homes, or come from businesses that could not make it with tough times. However, even though things are not the "perfect" way that I imagined them to be, the students have positive mindset. When it comes to education those things do not matter.

I learned to be open to change because not every piece of a puzzle fits perfectly. It is okay to be rough around the edges. Today, I no longer imagine that the rest of the world is as "perfect" as home. I imagine that the rest of the world is as "perfect" as you make it. I am excited to see how perfect Westfield, PA and Cowanesque Valley High School is.