Mr., what happened to your legs? Are they real? Why are you in a wheelchair?

Will you always be that way? When did you get sick? Does your mom help you?

YES, I know what a spinal cord is! How old are you? Why are the inside of your hands white and not black?

Every single year, I’m not only excited for the first week of classes for myself, but I’m also excited that I’ll get the opportunity to spend 2 hours each week, helping first graders read, learn, write, and grow as people. I love educating them about everything. Especially my disability.

The questions listed up top are the ones that I get every single day. Today, I explained to them how I’m in the 17th grade. That it’s possible, and sometimes common, to work and go to school at the same place – even though it’s a school, and you’re not a teacher.

I love these kids. Immediately. Learning their names. Learning their tendencies. Teaching them about everything. For most people, going throughout this transition and new acclimation with 40 new kids every year would be daunting. I look forward to.

I’ll never forget, over summer, when I was grocery shopping with some coups at Target, and I ran into a young one I had volunteered for and taught the year before. She came up to me, and said, “Hi, Mr. Graves. I just wanted to let you know that I saw you from over there, and I wanted to thank you for helping my reading get better.”

What else do you need to make it worth it? Nothing. Little moments like that remind me I might wake up earlier than I really want to, but I know these little kids are going to appreciate it.

The teachers appreciate my time, outwardly, also. Last year, Montgomery County Public Schools had to find a way to save money – and one of the ways they were going o try and do so was to consolidate schools – to shut down one and send those kids to a new school, elsewhere in the town.  They thought it was a great idea – but the community didn’t.  Even some on the school board realized how much stress this would cause students, their families, and quite frankly people like me who love to be able to volunteer there.

Long story short, every single time I see the teachers I can tell that they really appreciate everything that I do for them. They are fantastic people. This is a fantastic community. And from the first graders I work with starting today, to the now-sixth graders that I began with, as a freshmen – I love growing up with these kids. They are some of the best, most brilliant, bright, shining minds that I get to interact with on a weekly basis.

After I left Harding, I went home to get some work done for classes, and then came to work a little bit at the Event Planning Office, in Squires – one of my other favorite things to do during the year.

In case you didn’t know, my birthday is tomorrow. And they surprised me with some cupcakes and a fantastic card. :)

I have a much longer blog formulating, recapping my entire first week of graduate school – which was my greatest first week of school ever, but this day was also just so lovely and fantastic that I had to share with you all. :)