Learning to say no can be difficult. For me saying no can be harder than eating 10
Saltine Crackers and whistling. More difficult than taking down a spoon full of
cinnamon. More challenging than jumping rope on a Pogo stick. And tougher than watching a child hit a
whiffle ball into their father’s privates and not laugh. I am not saying that I never say no. When I don’t have a choice in the matter, or
I already have a commitment, I can say no without worry. But lately my ability to say no has been
derailed by sincere requests for help.
Every Wednesday I offer free tutoring to all of my
students. I tell them from the first
week if school, “I will stay after school for 2 hours every Wednesday and help
anyone that has questions.” Early in the
school year, I don’t get many takers. A
couple of A-students wanting to earn Brownie-points will stay, and then maybe
one or two kids that actually need help.
When the D/F grades start showing up on progress reports, the parents
start to calling and emailing. I mention
Want Help Wednesdays and all of a sudden I have 20 kids in my room on
Wednesdays. It’s hard to give every kid
the attention they deserve.
A couple of months ago I was meeting with one of my 9th
graders who I had been worried about because all Alg 1 students need to pass an
End Of Course Exam in order to graduate from high school. Oh and next year, they all have to pass a
Geometry End Of Course Exam to graduate high school. I am not going to hop on my Soap Box now,
but these High-Stakes Tests are a bunch of B.S.! Anywho, this kid has not passed a state test
since the 3rd grade, and I need to get her to pass the Alg 1
EOC. We were discussing how I could help
her, and she said that she could not come on Wednesdays because she has other
Wednesday commitments, but she asked if she could stay on Mondays. So, here I have a 15-year-old student who is
willing to give up 2 hours of her own time to stay and work on math. How can I
say no?
Turns out, kids talk.
I now have 7 kids that stay every Monday for 2 hours. I had to limit Mondays to just my Alg 1
students who did not pass the state test last year. (I have a lot more than 7
students who did not pass the state test last year, but these are the ones that
are willing to stay and are able to get rides home.) Otherwise I would have 20+
students like I do on Wednesdays. I also
have one student that can only stay every other Friday due to divorced parents
and house hopping. I can’t say no to a
kid that is willing to give up their Fridays to get better at math, can I?
Then there is Relay For Life. Just in the month of May I can count 22 days
in which I had at least one Relay meeting, fundraiser, speaking engagement or
obligation. A lot of those days had
multiple meetings, or they took up most of the day. “Hey Ryan, we are having fundraiser and it
would be great if you could come give the opening remarks and talk about the
Northshore Relay and the good work ACS is doing?” How do I say no to that?
Sleep has been an afterthought. Exercise has been non-existent. Luckily, myfitnesspal keeps my eating
somewhat under control. This has not been my healthiest month, but
life can get like this, and I feel like I have done well under the
circumstances.
One thing that helps me when life gets this tough is knowing
that I have an army of supporters behind me. People that are willing to sponsor
my weight-loss, give me eating tips, exercise tips, go on a hike with me, walk
with me and talk me through the rough patches.
I may already sound like a broken record, but I thank you for giving me
the motivation, the encouragement and belief that I can make this life-change
come true. Thank you!
My final weigh-in post will be coming tomorrow. Check back!
One more thing: Relay For Life is on June 2nd and
I would love it if you all came by to see the amazing work my committee has done
to make this event happen. I may not be
able to talk to you as much as I would like because I will be running around in
full stress mode, but I would still love to see you there. I also know that I have a few readers that
are cancer survivors. Please, please come walk in the Survivor Lap! It’s how we start Relay, and YOU are the
reason we Relay! Survivors take the
first lap, and 1000 people honor your fight by cheering you on. You may not like to receive the attention,
but it is powerful and makes our time and effort worth it to see so many
survivors on the track. If you know any
survivors, please ask them to come walk with us! I don’t care if they don’t live in
Northshore. Bring them and share in this amazing event. Survivors can register to walk the opening
lap with the link below. We want you to
register so we can have a shirt and gift for you. Please, please sign up all survivors!
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