What I wonder

from Laura
When I look around my school, I see...
...many ethnicities represented, but mostly Hispanic students.
...students in their groups- usually visibly 'together' because they are dressed alike, not necessarily because they look alike.
...some students with a big stack of books, pencils, and calculator. Others with nothing, who will say again today "I forgot, Teacher."
...clothes either hugely baggy or almost skin-tight.
...a color choice here, a knotted cross necklace there, a hand sign flashed- subtle reminders of the gangs that lure many of these students in.
...the hand waves, hugs, smiles of students who care deeply for their friends and love to get to know their teachers.
...the half-joking punches and hard faces of students who have seen too many people walk away and are slow to treat anyone well.
...students whose best meals all week are the school cafeteria lunches, and others who go on world-hopping vacations.

Some of what I see breaks my heart, some of it makes me jump for joy, some of it is why I love 'my' kids and my job. Some of this will stay the same next year, half a world away, and some of it won't at all. I wonder... which will be what? Which things at Faith Academy will break my heart? Which will make my day? What will be the things that draw me into 'my' new kids' lives and them into my heart?

I know a few things, changes and constants. There will be uniforms. There will be many nations represented- over 20 according to the Faith Academy brochure. There will be students who are open to others, and some who are closed and hardened. But mostly for now, I'm really just, well, wondering!