Walking Past

This has been a week of real counseling for me. Many weeks as a school counselor are filled with paperwork, academic counseling, meetings with parents, talking about college; everything but what is really going on in the students life. This has not been one of those weeks. I have talked with many students who are truly hurting.Each of these kids, girls and guys, have come into my office looking neat, clean and all together. They have fallen apart in my office, shed their tears, used a bunch of Kleenex, talked and listened. Before leaving my office there is always the question, " Does it look like I have been crying?" They wait a few minutes and hope the redness has gone away in their eyes. They want to walk the halls again looking "all together," even though their world is really falling apart. This week has caused me to think about how many students I walk past in the hall who seem tough, cool, beautiful, without a care in the world; but in reality are broken inside. We all walk past each other, with the little glance to see if they are going to acknowledge you, the average student does not want to seem to eager. I am at an advantage to the students, it is my job to be the acknowledger. I walk down the hall working to acknowledge students and draw them out of their shell. It is funny, some love to be acknowledge and spoken to, while others act like they have never seen me, much less spilled their guts to me. That is the balance that I must find, when to speak and when to let them walk on by. The hallway of a school can be a wonderful place full of seeing your friends and hanging out or a dreaded place that reminds students of how lonely they are. Sorry to end on a downer. This post has gone several different ways. Oh well. These are just things I have been thinking about this week while walking down the hall to meetings or to go see Anna Claire.