Take it or leave it

This past week was marked by two highlights: 1) Career Day 2) My sister coached her superstar-less team to win the championship. The best part about both titles are marked by opportunity.

Career Day
A friend of mine invited me to speak at her intermediary school’s career day. I agreed to do it since I seldom get the opportunity to speak into the lives of the youth and I had been looking for a way to use my EVP(Employee Volunteer Program) days. Career Day wasn’t that easy because it already takes some effort explaining what my job entails to adults and then dealing with the non-reaction kids get when they find out I’m not a policeman, firefighter, or doctor is also a challenge. What I ended up doing was using a cup stacking competition to illustrate firm and shaky foundation. Once they understood the concept of foundation, I talked about houses and the time/cost benefits of a strong framework, then I made my way into Liferay’s software that provides a framework to create web pages. **pant** At the end of the day I was exhausted from speaking to six groups of kids at half an hour per group, and I questioned my fancy of ever wanting to teach for a living.

In hindsight, I’m not so sure the kids understood the concepts I was trying to teach them. For example, one girl asked me what the best thing about my job is. I told her that most companies are only concerned about how much money they make, but that my company is equally concerned with how much we serve and give back to others. Perhaps this went straight over their heads, but I’m hoping for better. I’m super happy that I took the opportunity to participate in Career Day. It taught me how exhausting it can be to be a teacher, and it helped me reflect on the vital importance that a solid academic foundation has on an individual and society at large.

Basketball Championship
The following is an excerpt of an email I received from my mom. I changed it a bit to make sense.

This is the last night of the high school basketball season, and tonight, your sister’s JV team clinched the championship !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
She and her girls did it together and it’s a Cinderella story

When last year’s JV head coach took a leave of absence, the head of the girls’ basketball was looking everywhere for people he knew to fill the job, but finally told Yvonne the very last minute that she was on. She was the volunteer assistant coach of the JV team for the previous 2 years. On top of that, everybody told her she would be getting a less talented pool of girls. They kindly prepped her for failure. When she was the assistant, other coaches paid her little attention. When she became head coach some male coaches talked patronizingly to her until she started winning. Your sister found it funny.

Well, she taught and trained those girl irregardless of their talents and expected a lot from them. They responded and worked hard.
Tonight is especially sweet (to me, and I assume to her). They beat the well known sports school of the league at their home court by 13 (I dare not go watch, and grandma said it was good she forgot the championship was on the line tonight or she would be fretting all evening !)

This line says it all, “she taught and trained those girl irregardless of their talents and expected a lot from them.” I personally got to witness the lack of individual “talent” on this squad. The previous teams always had a few standout players and was able to rely on them for a boost. I’m SO proud of my sister who took a low-chance-of-success opportunity to give these kids their own chance to shine as a team. And true to her faith, she gave all the glory to God, who gives to us imperfect beings countless opportunities to grow closer to Him.