A practice started just this year at TSS is called Motivational Mondays. After the morning anthem singing, flag raising, and pledge reciting, students listen to a short talk given by one of the teachers or administrators. The talk is meant to inspire students as they start their week. Celebration Fridays cap off the end of the week, when the student body learns of big and small accomplishments from throughout the school. 

I witnessed my first Motivational Monday this week and then was asked if I’d deliver my own next week. I said yes.

Monday’s talk was delivered by the chair of the English Department. He read the (classic?) story of the butterfly that was helped out of its cocoon and then subsequently was unable to fly because it needs the struggle of its slow emergence to properly prepare its wings. The students learned the moral of the story is that the struggle is not only real, but necessary. Or, as I’m prone to say: necessary, but insufficient. 

Now, its my turn to come up with something to motivate the students through the week. The fact there’s a term break the following week would be motivation enough for me. Alas, I don’t want to break this new tradition. I’m honored that they trust me enough in one week to captivate 1100 students  on a Monday morning at 7:38.

I’ve been letting this charge percolate for a few days now. I’ve even reached out to my Northside darlings to see if any of them want to throw together a video montage to inspire their international cohorts.  

I’ve got some backup plans of somehow using the song “Get Back Up Again” from the movie “Trolls.” Or perhaps a story of my 8 year-old deciding she’d try out for a talent show on her first day in a new school in a new country, auditioning with new friends, making up a dance to Taylor Swift. She didn’t make it into the show, but there’s a motivational story in there somewhere. Nothing is settled, yet. I’ll keep meditating on it.

Now it’s time for me to get my head of of this phone and meditative state so I can pay attention to where I’m getting off this bus. I’m 95% sure I’m on the right bus…I need to make sure.