I’m grateful for chance I had to volunteer for Disability Mentoring Day. It was a great opportunity to learn about employment resources for students with disabilities. Plus, I got credit for two classes; how’s that for killing two birds with one stone :)
Anyways, as I’ve reflected on the experience, I feel like I should share one part of that experience with you, my devoted online readers. It was a short, simple conversation I had with one student, but it made a significant impact on the way I view students and my future profession. I wanted to share with you Brandon’s Story.
Brandon is a tall boy, slender, with light brown hair and piercing blue eyes. He’s quiet. Maybe that’s why I noticed him in the first place. I have this theory that teachers teach to the student they see in themselves, so naturally I gravitate to the quiet, bookish teens. There was another reason why Brandon seemed different to me. He wanted to be a paleontologist when he grew up. When the presenter had asked earlier, most students had said that they wanted to work with animals or kids. Brandon had one very specific interest: the science of dinosaurs.
Brandon sat behind me on the bus. As we drove to and from each destination I decided to make the most of my rare college field trip. You see, my minor is chemistry, so I’m somewhat of a science nerd myself. I asked Brandon one simple question, “So what’s your favorite dinosaur?” He replied with a question of his own, “Well… that depends on what kind of dinosaur you are talking about.” With a sly grin he went on to explain the four or five different categories of dinosaurs, telling me the characteristics of each group, and giving me specific examples. He knew both the scientific and common names of each species. As I listened, I could almost see the hours he spent pouring over dinosaur books; his descriptions made illustrated pages come alive before my eyes.
Later, the conversation drifted towards books and movies. We found a shared passion for the mythical creatures and language of Tolkien’s Middle Earth. I smiled as I remembered the bus rides of my own adolescence. The trips to and from school were spent lost in the pages of The Lord of the Rings trilogy. Like Brandon, I was glad that that Peter Jackson’s award-winning cinematography had accurately captured the magical details of Tolkien’s fantasy world.
I wondered why Brandon was in Special Ed when he obviously was able to learn and read so much. There’s a lot that I don’t know about Brandon’s education and history. I’m not his teacher, but I will be his teacher someday. I’ll be teaching hundreds of students just like him: passionate, curious teenagers who have high expectations for their futures. I’m grateful that Brandon taught me one of the most valuable lessons I have learned so far: that moments of grace can occur in ordinary places and casual conversations. Maybe one day me and my students will compare dinosaur families with groups in the periodic table, or explore grammar by using the Elf languages from Lord of the Rings. When we look beyond the term “disability” to see the individual’s talent, passion, and experience, that’s when real learning can occur.
