Yesterday, I took the day off of work to complete a required observation in a special education classroom at an elementary school. While my purpose of going there was to learn more about learning disabilities, I actually learned much more than that. The day started off on a good note all of the students came in excited to learn, but as the day went on that excitement never faded away. Through out the day I continuously took notes I needed in order to write a paper on the students actions and strategies teachers practiced with them.
While the students were at lunch and recess I took the down time to overlook my notes and realized they weren't much different from anything I read in my textbook. What I did realize was the amount of times these students smiled and laughed through out the course of the day because they were genuinely happy, I think they smiled and laughed more in the 7 hours I spent with them than I do in months.
This left me asking myself, how are kids who face far more difficult challenges than me seem so much happier than me? It took me awhile to draw a conclusion, but the answer is simple. It is because they always choose to see the good, find joy in the smallest of things, and celebrate the little victories like they had just won the lottery.
Although the goal of the education system is for them to learn from it, I think the world can also learn a lot from them. At the end of the day it doesn't matter what you have as long as you're happy. Happiness is what keeps us going no matter what troubles might come our way. By the end of the day I had completely forgotten I was in a special education classroom because "the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not over come it." (John 1:5) These students are so much more than the disabilities they're labeled with and it shows through their light.
Today I feel grateful for all that I have, so I choose to pass on the light that these kids shined on me yesterday. To anyone who has read all the way to this point I encourage you to do the same. A simple smile can remind someone the factors that diminish their happiness are not powerful enough to do so.
