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School is All About Looking for the Teachable Moments

As many know, life is full of constant twists and turns, ups and downs, and always has something to throw our way. Like the theme of a story, people are constantly learning lessons about life.

Within the school environment students are living and learning in their own ways, taking away something that will most likely last forever. A student may learn that friendships will come and go, or that arguing may not be worth it in the long run and keeping their mouth shut is the better path to take. Whatever it may be, students are constantly seeing situations that bring out teachable moments in any ordinary school day. 

Breanna Beaulieu, a sophomore from Fort Kent Community High School, has learned over the years  to be a leader and not a follower.

She says, “There’s a lot of cliques and groups, some being good, but most not quite. Some kids feel the need to be popular, and they feel like they have to hang out with the “cool” people not always making the right decisions. Being in these groups leaves people like me to feel like we’re pressured into changing ourselves, instead of embracing our own individual selves.” Bre says that people need to be the leader of their own way and not follow the ways of other people. Her message would be to follow your own path, lead the way, and don’t follow the crowd. 

Samantha Roy, also a sophomore from FKCHS, says that putting off assignments, and participating in the act of procrastination can cause a downward spiral. “I used to slack off a lot, but I realized I wouldn’t survive in the real world if I kept it up.” She now knows that procrastinating on even the smallest of projects would make it difficult to catch back up and stay on pace with everyone else. Students putting off the work puts them further and further behind and the result is not worth it. 

Students should know that while they are in school they may feel that some material being taught is irrelevant, but regardless of what is taught to a student there is always an underlying story to be told. It’s not necessarily about what they can remember from one day to the next about algebraic equations, or the difference between transitive and intransitive phrases, or even what happened on this exact day in history.

It’s about seeing the world that surrounds them in the moment and to see how other people make mistakes and learn from them. Students can see the valuable lessons other people have learned the hard way and know for sure they don’t want to trek a similar path to know the outcome. 

C.S. Lewis, the British novelist, once said “You can’t go back and change the beginning, but you can start where you are and change the ending.” 

Amber Sandstrom, a student at Fort Kent Community High School, is a regular contributor to Raise Your Voice. 

His Last Share of the Starsby Doctor Turtle is obtained under a Creative Commons Attribution Licensefrom Free Music Archive.