Given a chance.

I’ve been thinking quite a bit lately (imagine that—all this reflection has turned into a blessing in disguise), specifically about my role in my assistantship.  We had a staff meeting before I-Days where we were discussing selection for the new GA position in Honors.  Naturally, most people were very focused on “experience,” and whether or not certain candidates had fitting experience.  The entire time I remember thinking, wow, if this had been a position at Interview Days two years ago, I wouldn’t have even been considered!  I didn’t have the experience when I started this program!  I brought this up in a meeting with my supervisor later and she described how she could relate to that feeling, and then she said, “So yeah, maybe you didn’t have the experience, but you’re doing the job now.”  Although very simple, this was also a very insightful realization for me.  I was given a chance when I wasn’t necessarily the most ideal person for the job.  It makes me think about how many “big name” people were given a chance when they maybe initially didn’t “deserve” one.  This makes me really want to start paying even closer attention to people’s potential, and noticing/seeing things in people that maybe they do not even see in themselves.

All of this also makes me think of my youngest sister, who is a senior in high school and has loved sports pretty much since she could walk.  Specifically, she has played basketball on some sort of team since she was six years old.  I had the opportunity to watch her grow from an eager, hard-working kid, to an incredible athlete; she is truly an all-star, and countless college teams have been trying to recruit her.  She has such natural talent, as an athlete, but really all across the board, that she makes nearly everything she does look easy.  I’m constantly amazed at how gifted she is. 

The problem: she’s had some coaches who have seemingly dedicated their coaching careers to tearing down their players.  She has felt so torn down by a few of her coaches, that she has begun hating basketball and doubting her abilities.  The high school coach was finally fired last year, after several years of complaints from players and parents.  Students would start playing for him and then quit, oftentimes even before their junior or senior years.  I would take my sister to practices, or go to her games, and see girls running out crying, or trying to fight off tears on the court as their coach seemed to have nothing positive to say.  Even with a new coach, my mom struggles to even go to her games now because the coach my sister has now has basically stopped playing her altogether.  She constantly wonders what she did wrong, or why she’s “not good enough” at school, when there are college recruiters all over who want her to play for them.  What an unbelievable dissonance she’s experiencing, and my blood boils as I think about it.

Sometimes students have hidden abilities that can be fostered through an encouraging environment.  Sometimes they have natural talents that can grow into even deeper levels of skill, oftentimes especially when encouraged and given that chance.

Either way: students need to be given a chance.  Given opportunities to try and fail, and try again until learning occurs.  Or opportunities to allow their natural talents to shine through and be utilized.  Leaders (really of any kind) have more of an impact than they will probably ever know.  I don’t ever want someone to question their abilities based on my words and actions.  I want to gain even more ability to notice potential, and recognize natural talent, and grow more proficient in discerning how to best guide students in growing into their own skin.