"Let Their Eyes Burn On You Moving"

[DramaQueenDiva]

I know that this seems kind of like an odd topic for a post about your "Mind And Body", but I have a point, I promise!

This morning, I was watching a Facebook Live video from the band "Recycled Percussion", who happens to be from my home state!  They posted a video called "Let Their Eyes Burn On You Moving", which can be seen here on their Facebook page.  

In the video, Justin talks about the need to try something new, to be bold, when others criticize your choices.  He talks about the need to be brave, and to ignore the naysayers, something that we all need to keep in mind.  He also talks about pushing yourself out of your comfort zone.

So what I want to know is, when did you "Let Their Eyes Burn On You Moving"?  For me, it was my entire school career.  I got diagnosed with Dyslexia when I was 6 years old, and was told by the school district when I was 9, that I wouldn't graduate high school.

Along the way, I had kids bully me and teachers just not care about me.  Some "conveniently forgot" that I had an IEP (Individualized Education Plan) and refused to follow it.  Such was my life until I turned 13.

When I was 13 years old, I FINALLY got a case manager who doubled as one of my teachers that actually did care about me!  He knew that my strength was music, and fought for me to be in my school chorus.  He knew I loved to sing and I loved being in chorus in elementary school.  It was the one subject I was actually good at.  However, the school district told him "well, she can't take it because it's offered opposite her math class, which she needs to graduate."  He said "Put her in my math and retailing classes so that she can run the school store.  Since those classes aren't offered opposite chorus class, they can count as her math credit".  They would then come back and say "But she needs English as well, which is offered opposite chorus".  "Put her in my English class then, since it's not offered opposite chorus". 

He didn't stop there.  When I was a freshman in high school, he fought with the district to get me a spot in a keyboarding class to satisfy my computer requirement.  The only problem was that it was offered opposite my study hall.  He convinced me to switch out of the study hall to take the keyboarding class, despite the fact that I would be one of the oldest in the class (most of the kids were 7th graders).  I trusted him, and I  took the class.

By taking that class, I was able to free up time in the school day for electives that I wanted to take and that I was good at!  I started to enjoy going to school!  I even had time to take a college-level class that I later transferred into my Associate's Degree.  

Despite the district telling me that I wouldn't graduate high school, I did...top third of my class with honors!  Do you remember that Associate's Degree?  I was able to transfer those credits into my Bachelor's Degree (with above a 3.0 GPA!) , and take even more electives in subjects that I was strong in!  I later went back to school again, this time to finish my Sign Language Certification (with straight A's in my last semester!) which I started when I got my Associate's Degree.  After that, I was able to be placed in an internship working with seniors in the Activities Department, which later led to me getting both my Activity Director and my Dementia Practitioner certifications.  Now, I'm happily serving as an Assistant Director of Activities, and part of my job requires me to conduct company-wide staff trainings on Dementia!  So now, I get to combine all my passions!

Not bad for someone who was told they wouldn't graduate high school!  By the way, I got to meet one of my teachers that was a naysayer years later.  I was having a bad day (just went through a breakup the day before, so I was NOT a happy camper to begin with!) that day and wasted no time serving up a piece of humble pie!

[SunsetRunner]

What a wonderful story, @DramaQueenDiva ! Thanks for sharing. I have a story that also shows the “experts” are not always right. I was working on my BA-Business degree in the early 80’s. We had to take a programming/computer class to graduate. It was a weeder class - one designed to fail at least 50% to maintain the “prestige” of the university degree. Well, it was horrible! I worked in a group for the finally project but we couldn’t figure it out. We even pooled our resources to pay a professional to help us. He couldn’t do it! During a session with the professor, he told me my problem was that I had “no computer aptitude.” Well, I showed him. Once I got out of that class (which I barely passed), I looked into computers on my own. The first IBM PC was released the year I graduated and it was love at first sight! I never took another computer class. Everything I learned was self taught or simply having the “aptitude” to sit down and figure it out. Yet I retired from a major advertising agency as VP/Manager of Technical Training & Performance Improvement. 

Bottom line from both of our stories — We have to believe in ourselves. Seek help where we can but never, never let the nay-sayers keep you down. Only YOU know what you can or cannot do. 

Any other good stories out there? Please share them! It may be just what someone needs to hear.