No words can suffice..
I received a call on Saturday telling that one of my students who had left the school not 5 years ago had been found dead. It was shocking thing to hear. The site has recently been rocked by the passing of one of stalwarts and this further news just didn’t make any sense. A young man just starting out on life. Gone. The ripples have spread through the school as we try to manage the inevitable emotional repercussions as students come to terms with mortality; many never having had to endure the gaping maw of grief in their short lives. All sorts of certainties appear wiped away as the map changes and new information is processed. Every teenager believes they are immortal, I certainly did, and the tectonic plates of their worlds have moved, in some subtly, in others less so. All we can do is reassure and comfort.
News such as this permeates every aspect of daily life, school or otherwise, and will do for a while. One of the choices you make in teaching is whether to emotionally engage with your students. The best ones always do. One of the costs of that engagement is the hurt that is felt upon hearing news such as this. Such a waste.
Tracks to suit I feel. Catharsis comes with listening. First up Mercury Rev, then Patrick Jonsson and finally some Tom Waits. As ever take what you want or need. Look after yourselves and those you love. Hold them tight for a while.
