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career. In my marriage, I experienced great joy, especially when I gave birth to our two amazing daughters, Summer and Zoya. But there were also traumatic events that occurred, both emotionally and physically. While confronting this trauma, there were many times that I felt overwhelmed, lost, and hopeless. But I knew I had two impressionable girls who needed me. I am grateful that there were people in my network (my parents, grandparents, brother, aunts, friends, and the teachers with whom I worked) who rallied around me and helped in the ways that they could. I couldn’t do it on my own, and I am glad that I did not have to. This was the first lesson I learned about resilience: Having a strong support system is critical. It was important for me to be able to tap into the relationships that I had with my support system and to know that they would do whatever was needed to help us. Another lesson that I learned is that it is okay to seek and receive help from others. Being vulnerable enough to say, “I need your help,” and having someone say, “Don’t worry, I got you,” was very liberating. What I saw in my support system continues to impact me, both professionally and personally. This is especially true when working with children who are in crisis. This brings me to the second event that enhanced my understanding of resilience. In my career, I have had the honor of working with countless learners, but there is one child who stands out for me. I will call her Latasha. I taught Latasha when she was in first and second grade. Latasha was a beautiful, energetic, and curious child. She had a smile that lit up any room. Her energy was positive, and all her classmates liked being around her. Latasha stole my heart with her sass and wit. It was a joy teaching and getting to know her. However, when she came back for second grade, I witnessed drastic changes in Latasha’s disposition. The smile that lit up our classroom was now replaced with deep sadness and despair. Her cheerful demeanor that everyone enjoyed had been replaced with a more withdrawn, and at times disruptive, little girl. I noticed other changes in her as well. She began pulling out her hair from the roots; she stopped eating lunch and was losing a lot of weight; and she began having loud outbursts. I knew something was not right, but I didn’t know what. I sought the help of the principal, guidance counselor, and social worker who monitored Latasha’s placement in her new foster home. We worked together to get to the bottom of what was going on and eventually found out that Latasha was
8 The Educator’s Guide to Building Child & Family Resilience
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