After little progress with the children at my school, the tutoring I do with Emily makes everything feel spectacular. She is 14 now, and I have been working with her for a year. She was elected chairman of the accelerated English class in her new junior high {they call it the Genius class}. Not only is she super bright, but she has this incredible dry sense of humor, and always manages to teach me as much I teach her.

She sees me.

Always laughs at my jokes.

Does her best to scare me so that she can hear me yell!

Doesn’t question when I teach her about manatees, or internet safety.

Gives me the vibe that what I do is pretty wonderful {teaching=joy} although it is more often then not a struggle, breakthrough moments with children make it worth it.

I see her.

She already understands well past her years. A much deeper understanding of the world, and human emotions. She has hope in all that she does, never really doubting herself. And when we came across my favorite Anne Frank quote, she said what I expected her to say. That of course beauty remains, it is whether or not you choose to recognize it.