LOVE OR HATE ME

Friday is a day I will never forget. My students decided to ask me if they can borrow one of my Lakers jerseys for No Uniform Day. I’ve been doing this for years, letting the kids wear my jerseys, but this time the Lakers were not in the Playoffs. I brought them out anyway. I received the most love despite having been defeated, and these students had the courage to go out and display the team and of course to support me. Sadly, my students received the most hate for wearing them. At the end of the day my students told me every single hate remark that others made. I know exactly who those people are although there were a few surprises. It was bitter day for them and sweet for me. I guess these haters never had anybody who has worn their jersey to represent them especially their own personalized one like mine with #83, so it was obvious envy on their part. The leader of the pack, the one in the middle that wore my jersey defended and represented well. I was very proud of all of them. One of my friends said that I’m special to my students for them to do that. That was a powerful statement. I'm thankful for the love! <3

Not one of those haters ever said a word to me only to the students. My question is why do people have a difficult time supporting what others love and represent, despite their race, social class, upbringing, or even something as small as their favorite team? Everyone has the freedom to express themselves and is entitled to their own opinion. This shouldn’t be taken away from anyone especially a kid. To me, that's another form of bullying, this along with suicides is what we are trying to put a stop to. Hypocrisy? Things like this reveal people’s true colors and those are the individuals, young or old that I do not trust. I don’t trust those people because if I root for L.A. whether I’m from there or not they automatically classify me as the enemy. As if the Lakers did something to their loved ones for them to have so much hate. They win championships, 16 total so far. They are like the New York Yankees you either love them or hate them. The fans of those teams you either love them or hate them as well, just because they are fans. It’s the team that should receive the hate why are the fans getting ugly looks? Why are they being attacked? Wow! Here's why:

They can hate me all they want, half of them are not true fans because they jump on bandwagons and the others can continue to be miserable while the Lakers and Yankees win championships. By the way I’m a Los Angeles Dodgers fan. I have friends that are Texas Rangers, Boston Red Sox, Dallas Cowboys, Atlanta Falcons, Phoenix Suns, San Antonio Spurs, Dallas Mavericks, and Midland Lee High School Rebels fans and I never hold that against them or bash them when those teams don’t succeed if anything out of love and respect for them I’ll jump on their bandwagon when their team has a title shot, but that doesn’t give me the right to bash others because I would only be a bandwagon “fake” fan in support of my friends. To those that don’t hate I’ll see you around, I trust you, we should hang out and Bar-B-Q, travel the world together, and I’ll make room for the Lakers bandwagon because there’s lots of room for next year’s championship run because you matter and you don’t mind. To the rest of you, well, you’re not important to me.

The biggest criticism that has existed for 6 years is: Coach Nunez’s Spanish students don’t learn anything besides Lakers. Really? I think you discredit the entire school system if you say or believe that. I know for a fact that ALL teachers bust their behinds all year-round and work long hours show up early in the morning and/or leave late at night. There’s no doubt, even the ones that don’t like to teach are forced to meet expectations because it’s part of the job assignment, there’s no getting away with not working hard if you’re involved with Education. One teacher doesn’t necessarily work harder than another everyone gives everything they have to submit their paper work and deal with the everyday problems in the classroom. Whenever you point your finger, there are more fingers pointing back at you. Lastly, don’t worry about others, worry about yourself.

The superintendent has been trying figure out how to deal with this suicide issue with our youth in Midland. Here’s my solution. Teachers like myself, should spend more time loving and caring for the kids, and less time sending them to detention or the office. Somewhere on that mission statement should have the word "Love" afterall it's a commandment. Teachers like myself, should focus more about teaching life lessons rather than the curriculum. The curriculum is important, and if our scores are not up to par then yeah change these priorities, but if everything is in place then we need to find a creative way to show students a life lesson in our subject area. I’ve been doing this in my Spanish classes for 6 years that will always go unnoticed. Look at the above example with the girls wearing Lakers jerseys. I taught them to stand up for themselves even if the world was against them. They already had courage by putting on the jersey, but this experience taught them to persevere and not be ashamed about who they are and what they represented. That’s what I taught them and I didn’t even say a word only openned up the door and sent them loose. Yes, my students do learn about basketball in my classroom AND Spanish, History, Math, cultures, traditions, customs, about my experiences…the list goes on. I learn about them as well, their passion, life story, struggles, home life, and their strengths and weaknesses. Teachers find out more than you can imagine about kids and we use that to serve, teach, and inspire them.

We are in the business of loving kids, if we can’t love them even the naughty ones, then we can’t teach them or in some cases SAVE their lives. Nevertheless we need people that criticize. I love that kind of attention. I want my kids to have that attention as well because it will fuel them and they will fight to survive. It will cause them to break through walls, prove any doubters wrong, push to accomplish their goals, and do the impossible. Kids are lights and have bright futures. We should embrace that, not hate that. I know because I was once a kid, oh and the kid in me still lives. Can’t wait what’s in store for the next 6 years. More rings? Maybe, but one thing that’s for sure haters will still be criticizing about kids learning about Lakers in my classroom. I use what I'm passionate about as a tool. Some people just don’t get it. Here, this may sum it up:

Don't worry about what’s being taught, it's important but they are not going to remember it anyway. We should stress on what’s more important, LIFE. In the words of today's youth, "You only live once (YOLO)." Loosen up, quit hating, love your job, and love and enjoy your life. People do have a decision to make because everyone is entitled to their own opinion. This blog is not intended to persuade anybody to love me because even after reading this blog people are going to continue to love me, or hate me. I know I mentioned that I was not going to talk much about the Lakers, but some things just never change, so in the words of Kobe Bryant:

Love me or hate me, it’s one or the other, always has been. Hate my game, my hunger, hate my fade-a-way, my swagger (2012 best swagger award), hate that I’m a veteran (6 years), a champion (football, basketball, and track), hate that, hate it with all your heart, and hate that I’m loved for the exact same reasons.

It's okay kids, don't worry, the cream always rises to the top, Coach Núñez knows what he's doing, I think...haha! One of my beloved students wrote on my board earlier this year, and yes I took a picture of it because these young individuals inspire me, and teach me just as much, they are the true fighters in my book:

To my future students (2012-2013) at San Jacinto Junior High and Midland College this goes to you:

My basketball player told me at the beginning of my career in 2007, who is graduating this Saturday from MHS and will go on to play college ball, "Don't give up on us." I will never forget those words :'( The song of the month is by Jason Mraz - I Won't Give Up On Us.