THE PATH TOO OFTEN TAKEN

From November to February, I lost sleep for numerous reasons - coming home late after a basketball game; staying up late to finish homework for class or trying to complete an assignment for the online course that I am being forced to take; traveling to Ole Miss on the weekend (sometimes after driving to Greenwood or Indianola for a basketball game); getting up early for work or church; etc., etc. After basketball season ended, I was very disappointed that our team did not make it to the Coliseum even though we were definitely talented enough to make it there, but at the same time I looked forward to having a little more personal time and some time to get adequate rest. Unfortunately, the rest has still not yet come. I have been trying to catch up with some of the grading that I didn't have time to do for the last couple of weeks. I guess I will have to save the sleeping marathon for spring break (except for the fact that I'll still be working on homework for class.)

Last week I lost sleep for another reason. A family member informed me one day that a store nearby had been robbed at gunpoint by two young people, and that the news channel showed the two people being arrested by the police. We wondered about whether it was hunger or an extreme need that would drive someone to rob an establishment in broad daylight. Of course we had no way of knowing the answer to that question. The following day, I overheard my students saying that they felt sorry for a particular student. I asked why, and they said as if I should have already known - you know she robbed that store.

I could not believe it. I would have never thought that one of the people involved in the incident that I heard about the previous day was one of my students. She was just in my class during one of my planning periods a few days before making up a test and talking to me about several things. I would never have seen it coming. That new information put me in a bad mood for the remainder of the day. I could not help but wonder if there was something more that I or another adult in her life could have done or said to her to discourage her from choosing that course of action. I have awakened in the middle of the night a few times wondering about this, and praying for her that there be some slim chance that she may one day overcome the consequences of her action.

My students spoke of her as if she were dead - "She was a good student, too." Unfortunately, events like this are often insurmountable for young people. All too often, after they have served their time, they are often stuck in a cycle of crime and drugs. I pray that my student does not follow that path, but the sad truth is that she he has already taken the first step on that path.