"Why's that?" I asked, taking in the dusting of baby powder on his head, plaid shirt, and skateboard. "What's your spirit day?" I added. I'm getting used to students from different dorms coming into class dressed according to a particular theme when their dorm has a hot lunch day. One week the Blauen girls wore inside out clothing; another day the Liel girls all dressed up like pumpkins.
"Sonne boys are dressed up like old guys; I'm Tony Hawk."
Puzzled, I started to ask why his outfit didn't match his dorm brothers' theme until I realized, "Oh, because Tony Hawk is old now?"
He grinned in agreement.
I saw my life flash before my eyes - if Tony Hawk is old, I'm getting old too.
Before I get too old, though, I'm making some amazing memories. I chuckled as I walked down the hall seeing half a dozen freshmen boys in sweatpants and robes with baby powder coating their heads. One of my boys had so much baby powder, a quick jerk of his head would send up a small cloud of dust. Halfway through class, he slumped in his chair pretending to doze off because, "Miss Hewett, old men fall asleep all the time."
"Not in my English class, they don't."
His junior dorm brother gave me the same line in my second period class.
Sonne kids really get into character for their spirit days.
I love the spirit these kids have for their dorm and their school. Every day there's something new, and I love the laughter and joy that comes into my classroom with spirit days.
I also love the opportunities I have to share my passion for faith and learning in my classroom. While I had five freshmen coated in baby powder in comfy clothes, I got to share with my students the connection between Scrooge's selfishness and our own. Reading literature gives us the opportunity to examine our own lives and see where we can change from being greedy to generous, lecherous to loving, and passive to passionate. Those of you who have seen me talk about literature and my faith know I can get a little emotional in my presentation. After my intense lecture, a freshmen piped up from the scared silence, "I get why you really like being a Bible teacher."
"You mean why I love being an English teacher," I corrected, "This stuff is in all of literature - these amazing connections between the stories, our lives, and our faith."
To be honest, I do love being a Bible teacher too. I have the best of both worlds here at BFA because I get to teach both Bible and English - the two things I'm most passionate about - to teenagers - my third great passion in life.
I love working with youth who think Tony Hawk is old and don't know what cassette tapes are. Sometimes that makes me feel old, but most of the time it excites me to see who the people who will shape the future of this world are. I'm blessed to have the chance to see these kids at BFA be silly and ridiculous while knowing that the junior who pretended to fall asleep in Bible is also one of the brightest kids in the school who is making choices today that positively change the world for Christ. He's the president of NHS here, and I've watched him talk about and plan service projects with a desire to be a servant leader in his school and community. He's not waiting until he's actually an old man to make a difference, and I admire that in the students I work with.
BFA isn't the only place that has amazing students like that either. I came here to serve the kids who dress up like pumpkins and old men, but I left behind some awesome students who prancercize and like pocket painter ponies. I had a great conversation yesterday with a young girl on the other side of the Atlantic from me who, on a regular basis, chooses to put serving others above herself. She gave up participating in the mock trial at her school to do a homework club for kids in her church's neighborhood. Even though only one grade school student comes regularly, she's committed to serving her community through this restructuring of her youth group. She's not willing to back out just because her youth group isn't popular or traditional anymore though some of her friends have stopped attending.
I teared up when she told me last night that she stands by this decision to change her youth group because she recognized that when her youth group was "normal" it was also cliquey. She doesn't want to go back to doing traditional youth group studies because that takes away her opportunity to make new friends her own age who want to impact the world for Jesus.
This brilliant kid also knows how to have fun. Aside from stealing my phone to take fifty selfies before I left, she also is a rock star at prancercizing:
Tony Hawk may be old now, but age doesn't matter when you're making a difference for God's kingdom. One of the most important lessons I've learned while working with youth is that you can make a difference no matter what your age, and you can have fun no matter what your age either. Serving God doesn't mean you can't have any fun. That's why I'm enjoying every minute of my service here in Germany.
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