One of my newest tasks in the school is grading the writing journals for third and fourth standards. Everyday (or every other day in fourth standard's case) I go into the class and correct all the journals (capitalize where needed, add punctuation marks, etc.) Today's journal topic for third standard was "Write about something beautiful." Although journal grading can be pretty tedious most of the time, today's topic made the grading process very fun. There were some very typical entries talking about how butterflies, peacocks, and leopards were beautiful but there were also some stand-outs. Sagayamary, the girl that I sponsor, said in her journal that new books were beautiful--she is definitely a girl after my own heart. One of the little girls wrote that "Fathima Miss", the third standard teacher, was beautiful--the kids are seriously so sweet.
There were two entries, though, that I really loved and I loved them for different reasons. The first was an entry from Subasri, one of the third standard girls, saying that P.T. Sir (the P.E. teacher) was "very, very beautiful." There are few things more endearing than little kids with crushes and the fact that she wrote it in her journal that is definitely not private (it's read by me, her teacher, as well as administration). It is so cute to see how much the kids love the teachers and staff at Rising Star--they are the permanent fixtures in their lives that give them the support and love they need on a daily basis.
The other entry I loved came from two boys, Sathish and M. Vishva. They had separate entries but they both listed the same thing. Now, to preface, both of these boys could easily be deemed "troublemakers"--they are disruptive, they get in fights, they struggle in school, etc. They are really great kids but these are just some things they struggle with. It is because of this that I was wonderfully surprised to read their journal entries that listed Jesus and God as beautiful. To see these boys blatantly write their feelings about God and Christ was so sweet--underneath their crazy exterior is a soft, sensitive spirit. It is also really amazing to me that these kids have such an understanding of Christ and God to know that they are beautiful. I also love that they are not ashamed or nervous or embarrassed to write about and show their love to God--they feel that God and Christ are beautiful and they want to share their feelings in their journals...so they do just that.
I finished grading journals with a smile on my face and went about my day. Later that same afternoon, even though it was completely sunny, it started to rain...and it was raining hard. Rain when it is sunny outside is awesome because you get the best of both worlds--warm sunshine and cool rain. I walked around in the rain and got thoroughly soaked. As I was walking from the Green House (where I live) over to the school it stopped raining and an entire rainbow stretched over the blue sky (when I say entire rainbow I mean a WHOLE RAINBOW--big arch stretching all the way down on both ends). From the beautiful, blue, sunny sky to the rainbow to the expansive green landscape I couldn't help but be struck by the beauty of it. It was an idyllic scene--something you only see in movies.
So this is me writing my own journal entry about something beautiful--India is beautiful.
Vanakkam
There were two entries, though, that I really loved and I loved them for different reasons. The first was an entry from Subasri, one of the third standard girls, saying that P.T. Sir (the P.E. teacher) was "very, very beautiful." There are few things more endearing than little kids with crushes and the fact that she wrote it in her journal that is definitely not private (it's read by me, her teacher, as well as administration). It is so cute to see how much the kids love the teachers and staff at Rising Star--they are the permanent fixtures in their lives that give them the support and love they need on a daily basis.
The other entry I loved came from two boys, Sathish and M. Vishva. They had separate entries but they both listed the same thing. Now, to preface, both of these boys could easily be deemed "troublemakers"--they are disruptive, they get in fights, they struggle in school, etc. They are really great kids but these are just some things they struggle with. It is because of this that I was wonderfully surprised to read their journal entries that listed Jesus and God as beautiful. To see these boys blatantly write their feelings about God and Christ was so sweet--underneath their crazy exterior is a soft, sensitive spirit. It is also really amazing to me that these kids have such an understanding of Christ and God to know that they are beautiful. I also love that they are not ashamed or nervous or embarrassed to write about and show their love to God--they feel that God and Christ are beautiful and they want to share their feelings in their journals...so they do just that.
I finished grading journals with a smile on my face and went about my day. Later that same afternoon, even though it was completely sunny, it started to rain...and it was raining hard. Rain when it is sunny outside is awesome because you get the best of both worlds--warm sunshine and cool rain. I walked around in the rain and got thoroughly soaked. As I was walking from the Green House (where I live) over to the school it stopped raining and an entire rainbow stretched over the blue sky (when I say entire rainbow I mean a WHOLE RAINBOW--big arch stretching all the way down on both ends). From the beautiful, blue, sunny sky to the rainbow to the expansive green landscape I couldn't help but be struck by the beauty of it. It was an idyllic scene--something you only see in movies.
So this is me writing my own journal entry about something beautiful--India is beautiful.
Vanakkam
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