Week 1 with the 7th grade, waiting for Superman

I was given my assignment for Practicum, a middle school in Northeast Ohio (whose name and location I will not reveal because I AIN'T CRAZY!).  A language arts class with 7th graders.  It's been rather stressful, but I did not expect this to be easy.  One cannot expect 7th graders to be easy, as their hormones are raging and their brains are still developing and their synaptic pruning processes are still going on (or whatever they told us in adolescent psych).  But still, when I was asked as to why it is that I wanted to be with this age group, I think it was because I am concerned about their emotional growth as well as their academic.  This is where we begin as adults, because it was where I began as an adult.  Challenging?  Of course it is.  But, if you don't want to accept certain challenges in life, then you may as well just give up completely.  I cannot help but think of a very depressing conversation I had with someone years ago who was my age.  We put before the 7th grade an ice breaker exercise, asking them questions like what their favorite TV shows, books, etc. are.  Another question was what they wanted to be when they grew up.  As we are now living in 2012, the hot book for adolescent readers to read now is The Hunger Games, which I fully expected most of them to answer.  As to what some said they wanted to be when they grew up, the boys answered a football or basketball player, the girls said they wanted to be movie stars or models.  I think that's what I wanted to be as well, just for the record (a movie star or model, not a professional athlete).  Years ago I asked someone who was my age what she wanted to be when she grew up when she was a little kid.  Not these junior high school years, but a little kid having not yet reached puberty.  She said "Nothing."  I asked, rather surprised "Nothing? I hoped that I would be like Superman."  I hoped that he would discover that he had some kind of special or secret powers that none of the others had.  And I would become big and strong, had the power of flight, and be a great hero beloved by the people.  She said "I figured whatever would happen to me would happen to me."  Misery loves company and depression is its best friend / enabler as it seems.

One kid said that when he grew up he wanted to be "A non working person".  What that means, I have no idea.  A millionaire?  An inmate?  Perhaps a welfare recipient, or a self sufficient farmer.  It's best to stay in the dark about some things. 

It's all been very stressful, as there are a million things to do at all times.  Be it filling out forms (attendance, detention forms, etc.), trying to get students to do what you want them to do.  I have adopted a very coplike mentality in how I approach a lot of things, but that comes from the background in physician billing.  Hopefully during this practice I can maintain my other, fabricated identity that I created while working in offices in order to keep potential asshole coworkers out of my business.  It's ultimately about happiness, one must keep in mind.  Constant scrambling to keep everything in line, that's what it's all about.