Not Just a Scrap of Paper! in QUOTIDIEN

During a fit of note-passing in my sixth grade English class, I asked my friend, Maureen C LaPerriere , to write something with meaning. She had quite a way with words, this one, and she wrote, 'With every sun that rises- And with every sun that sets, I love you a little bit more.'

Not a profession of love - but an example of imagery that blew me away;a key to a lock; a wind at my back, urging me to close my eyes and see what I was writing.

Several years later, an English teacher welcomed me at the end of this discovered corridor with an A+ in composition, and a note that complimented me on my gift of breathing life into the written word. The effect of both incidences together did more than just encourage me to write, it altered the way I viewed life in general.

Suddenly I became aware of the subtext of living, where all movement had meaning, and that there was an intrinsic value to stillness. I began to search for light in dark corners, and became conscious of the darkness behind blinding light.

I don't know what I might have been without these mile markers. I believe, however, that because of them, I am not chasing the dream, the dream s reveal themselves to me.

Teachers, be mindful. Encouragement between students, and the recognition of a teacher, can be the chance-in-a-lifetime, most positive, perspective-changing moment in a child's life.