The Student

It was two months into Dad’s battle with cancer that God gave me Sir Mr. Dr. (we will call him Sir Dr. Mr. to protect his identity.) Sir Mr. Dr. was a 17 year old student who had been suspended, withdrawn, enrolled, re-enrolled, and moved high schools, DAEPs and Juvenile over 22 times. At first, Sir Mr. Dr. hardly had anything to do with me. He would hardly talk when he came into my class. He usually had a very serious, tough look on his face and didnt smile too much but when he did smile, it could light up the whole room. I knew the first time I met him that he was someone very special. I could tell he had some anger and trust issues and if I would just be patient maybe he would open up. It only took about four days before I had his trust enough for him to say “go ahead ask me anything and I will  tell you the truth”. So, I sat down and asked him many question, questions about his childhood, his family, his friends, his drug history and much much more. He openly answered everything I asked. It was at this moment that I knew God put him infront of me for a reason. In many ways Sir Mr. Dr. was the male version of myself at seventeen. Yes, he had more of a challenging past than I and he experienced more difficulties and let downs than I but his love of family, love of life, eagerness to learn and thrill of adventure was much like me when I was his age. Just as I started losing a little joy in life, this amazingly brilliant student was put in front me. He tested me and questioned me in ways that I hadnt been tested or questioned yet as a teacher. He made me remember my true reason for wanting to teach. He asked me regularly how my dad was doing and when he did he looked at me and waited as I answered, it was never just a way to greet me, it was true concern. For months he made me laugh on a daily basis while constantly pushing me to learn more and more Geometry and Algebra and it slowly became a competition of who could get the answer right the fastest. The summer was slowly approaching and so were my dads final days. The last week of school i ended up staying in Austin to be with dad in his final days. Sir Mr. Dr. promised he wouldn’t get a tattoo on his face that he had been contenplating for a while. I know that summer can have its way of erasing some of the great strides teachers make throughout the school year but I was hopeful that he would return to PVA in the fall. While staying in Austin at my dad’s it grew harder and harder to leave the house if even for a moment. I was afraid I would miss something important and i was afraid to be away from dad. After listening to multiple reasons why I should get out of the house if even for just a moment I realized it might be a good idea after all I was going a little stir crazy. So Christy took me to the mall, a mall that is right around the corner from my dads house that Ive been to many many times. We ended up getting a little lost. Maybe it was because I hadn’t slept in weeks or maybe it was a little sign from God. We ended up lost in a neighborhood and turned onto a street named Palambra (we will call it that to protect its real name) and if it wasn’t for the picture of the street sign I took, I wouldn’t have believed this happened weeks later. You see, the tattoo Sir Dr. Mr. had been wanting was a letter, a letter that represented a street he associated himself with, a street that meant drugs, danger, stealing, lies, gangs, and much more. But this street was important to him, it means something to him, whether good or bad, he feels it is important. The street that was so evident in Sir Dr. Mr’s life was in fact Palambra. The same name of the same street I ended up lost on while on the way to a mall I had been too many many times. This is what I remember as my first sign from God that Sir Mr. Dr. would be an important part of my life for many years, he also made it clear to me that no matter what, I should always support and believe in him and believe that what he says is true. The next week my dad passed away, it was June 11th 2013. Around 6:00 that evening I got a call from one of my recent graduates, Hazel, when I answered the phone it was Sir Mr. Dr’s voice that I heard on the phone. He said “Mrs. Francko how are you?” I told him I was good but that just that morning my dad had passed away. He was silent for a minute then said “I’m sorry miss but I’m glad I called.” After taking a few weeks for myself during the summer I returned to school to finish up some paperwork and start preparing for the next year when I found a letter on my desk. Sir Mr. Dr. had left a note that said “I came to summer school just for Mrs. Franco and you aren’t even here, hope you have a great summer.” What a great note to find upon my return. I began to feel more and more hopeful that he would in fact return to PVA for the next school year. The week before school started I kept checking registration to see if Sir. Dr. Mr. had enrolled, he hadn’t. As I was working on organizing my class I heard someone try to open the front door of the school but it was locked. When I finally looked up, I saw Fabian. I almost tripped over a box because I took off so quick and was so surprised. As I opened the door, I saw a black A tattoo on his face. I couldn’t believe it, I wanted to scream!!! BUt….I didn’t, instead I gave him a big hug! I was so thrilled he was there. I hope one day Sir Mr. Dr. will see in himself what I have seen in him since the first time we ever spoke.