Pomp and Circumstance

Graduation/Promotion was on Thursday. It was thrown together at the last moment, went through several last minute changes and could have been way better – I was stressed to the max for trying to help - but as I sat there, watching the kids stand up and move to another bench as they got promoted to the next class, or as I saw grade 11 students, grade 6 and nursery students get certificates, my heart swelled with adoration and pride. Pride at them for completing another year of school. However well they did – and pride at me for getting to know all of them and the school and competing one year here. I practiced a group of grade 6 students to recite part of “Oh, the Places You’ll Go!” by Dr. Seuss. Shirin, Juniour, Synesius, Ena, Jeriana and Merilyn. With the Common Entrance Exam tutoring and the drama stuff I did with them, I’ve come to really enjoy grade 6. And I think they like doing things with me.

They only had two days to practice this recitation, and we didn’t practice much. They each had about 2 verses to recite. I made them read aloud several times, correcting pronunciations and reminding them about posture and eye contact. I tried to get them to recite with emphasis. They were all very excitable and Juniour assures me he’ll read with action. “I’m a furious man, Miss,” he tells me. Laughs like the one I had upon hearing this have been few. After I stopped laughing, I assured him he was.

Though it was he and Synesius who got too nervous the afternoon of and who didn’t want to do it. Well, actually, Shirin was the first – she bowed out the day before, muttering behind my back how she was going to absent herself the next day. I finally went up to her and asked if she didn’t want to go it; she said no and I said ok. Elvira piped up “I want to do it, Miss!” I was pleasantly surprised; Elvira had seemed shy to do me, not interested. She learned her lines, though. But then before the promotions, the boys wanted out and Synesius points out “Shirin quit, Miss!” Aw damn. But, I refused to let anyone off the hook and tried to deliver an inspiring, encouraging kick in the pants to get them ready: First, I told them I understand what it feels like to be nervous: your heart pounds, it’s hard to breathe, your voice shakes, your hands shake and you forget what you’re supposed to say. So they knew I knew how they felt. Then I told them it’s no big deal, they’ve practiced, they don’t have to have it memorized, it’s short and they have each other up there for support. And last, I told them it’s only 5 minutes of their lives. When they look back, they could see it was no different than many of the other minutes of their lives- or they could always have those five minutes where they did it – “I was scared, but I did it.”

I don’t know if it hit home or not, but it was a good note to self, if anything. And last, I left them with no options. Even if I didn’t inspire them enough – someone being forceful and holding you accountable is always an aid to improvement. I had them close their eyes and breathe (I swear, I’m gonna endorse Rupununi Youths’ Meditation/Yoga – it’d do ‘em a world of good) and we did Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes to relax. Then I gave them a mental image to put a smile on their lips if they got too nervous – Miss Sarah dancing disco. Yep.

They did it. It had mistakes, it was pretty robotic and they needed to be much louder, but THEY DID IT and I was proud.