Choir Camp Quest: High School, Part III

Much of the time, I'm very thankful that God made me, shall we say, special? I stand out in a crowd - be it my Asian-ness in rural Minnesota, the fact that I am the "mother" of an 18-year-old teenager and a 16-year-old with Down syndrome, or that I grew up a German Mennonite, graduated in a class of 13, was a Family and Consumer Science (Home-Ec. Sigh.) teacher, and am now in law school.

But it has taken a while for me to accept my unique-ness, my dorky-ness, my random-ness. One of the hardest times in my life was *duh duh dunnnn* High School. Like all other red-blooded teenagers, I just wanted to fit in! And I stuck out like a sore thumb. Another high-ranking hard time in life was *duh duh dunnnnnn* High School, Part II, when I was a high school teacher. I wanted to connect with the kids, but also wanted them to RESPECT MY AUTHORITY! In my effort to not be "too" good of friends with the kids, I pushed myself to take on the role of strict disciplinarian. You can guess how popular that made me.

As of 2005, when I left teaching, I figured I was done with high school for good. Wrong. As of July 1, I re-entered High School, Part III... as the cool kid!

At Choir Camp, I'm not a staffer, and I don't look like the other parents who are singing in the choir. Most kids stare in disbelief when I tell them I'm a parent, since they all think I look like a high school student and definitely not older than 24. I was prepared to spend most of my breaks alone, doing crossword puzzles... but I am somewhat proud to say I have been referred to as "cool" by more than one student, I'm connecting with a lot of fun (and funny) kids, and my own kid doesn't seem to mind hanging out with me either!

It only took 29 years to realize that the key to being the kind of person teenagers want to talk to is by confidently being yourself. Being a parent has helped me realize that my style of parenting is atypical but exactly what my kids needed. And that's probably why I didn't do so hot as a teacher - I was too busy trying to be somebody else. Today, a student told me I didn't act like an adult - and yes, at first I was freaked out. Was I too immature? Being too weird? Is there something wrong with me?

And then I decided to leave those insecure thoughts in my 20's - or at the very least, in the United States. I'm leaving for Europe on Tuesday as myself - my dorky, friendly and people-connecting self. If that means I don't act like an adult - oh well!