Life on the sidelines.

One of the side effects of being an interpreter is an accumulation of knowledge. Not all of it is useful. We learn the details of the personal lives of friends and strangers. Things they wouldn't share with their own family, the interpreter is privy to. We are in a unique possition to see things that others can't and yet because of this uniqueness are asked to never input into the process any of the conclusions our outside view has afforded. In my life over the last ten years, I have been "part" of ball clubs, football teams, wrestling, art, drama, anime, and various other organizations. I have also had the opportunity to observe teachers. I remember the best, and the worst. The average tend to get lost in the shuffle. Having been through middle and high school more times than most people gives me an interesting perspective. Even though I am an adult in the building, because I am often the 'voice' of the teen or preteen, the students grow comfortable with their friends and begin to discuss everyday life. In the ten years I have learned a few things. Students haven't really changed. Adult expectations have changed a lot. Zero Tolerance has made the school a safer place. I have yet to see a knife brought to school: However the boys know how to gossip and stab each other in the back better than when I was in school. At least they are not trying to stab you in the front anymore. Some things are better and some are worse but school is still teachers trying to teach and students trying to skate by or do their best. I'm starting my fourth passage through the teen years. I wonder how much I will see this time.