“There is no education like adversity.”—Benjamin Disraeli
Our fall term began at the Language center on September 4. I had been off for part of the summer. I’m back to teaching English there in the afternoons to early evenings a few times a week. Fall is set to begin on September 22. It’s one of my most favorite times of the year, along with spring.
A few students I’ve had in classes previously are with me again this term. It’s always nice to see familiar faces. It makes me feel at home. My students are for the most part all very friendly to me.
My other job is one to one teaching for a global-language-training company, called Global LT. http://www.global-lt.com/ I teach English to business people, managers, and engineers living in the U.S. They are temporarily here on work assignments with their families. The two part-time jobs make a full time career.
Global LT has contracts with automotive corporations. Most of my students are at the Nissan Technical Center. A division of Nissan North America, it is the Research and Development center in the U.S. There are about 1,000 employees in that building.
I have appointments there almost daily, throughout the week. People sometimes ask if I speak any of my students languages. I don’t. It is not that my students don’t know English. They have traveled and been to other countries. They are just at different levels, some novice, some intermediate, some are advanced.
I can relate to their difficulties. It was not easy for me to get through high-school. Since my accident happened at only sixteen. It was my junior year, October of 1994. It left me paralyzed. At Mott Children’s Hospital, I had to be home-schooled because I was there for nearly three months.
I looked to my faith in God, and prayed during the day. I wrote letters addressed to Him in my journals at night while listening to 10,000 Maniacs, Counting Crows, or Pearl Jam on my head phones. All the while recovering, and doing physical therapy.
I really wanted to get my diploma on time with all of my friends at Harrison High School. Finally, I was able to. I walked with a walker on stage to receive my diploma my senior year. Some in the auditorium stood, some clapped, some cheered.
As a teen, those years were vital for me. To read and study scripture, pray, write and talk to God. I would not have come this far without doing these things. I’ve carried them into my adulthood. I have rejoiced with Him in the good and the bad.
When we are able to do that, when we are able to be happy and sad with God; it is immeasurable.
As I start this term I’m grateful. I have been blessed beyond belief. The Lord is doing great things. I look forward to sharing with you more in the upcoming months. Blissfully, I feel at peace. As it states in Philippians 4:7, “…and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.”
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