Recently, I acquired a job for which I feel unqualified. It isn't something that I CAN'T DO.It just takes much effort. So it's a challenge. No, it's a struggle.So where does that leave me?Struggling.Asking friends for a lot of help.    
        The struggle is not so much the point as the insight it's given me.
        All of my adult life I've been a teacher. I love teaching. I love being with young people of all ages.It has always been a thrill to see the expression on a student's face when he/she got the concept of the lesson. Some of course, got the point right away. Others struggled, perhaps even for a long time.
        My experience now is similar to the students who struggled.They, too, felt unqualified for the job. Looking back I question my patience as a teacher; my respect for each student. Just as I am relying on others' help to complete my job, I hope that I helped each student in his/her struggle. I'd like to think that I had patience with each child.I 'd like to think that I respected each child as a unique person.I'd like to think that I treated each student kindly. And, I'd like to think that I nurtured a confidence in each student  that assured that child that he/she could do the job.I hope "struggling" paid off for these young people.This is what I hope they remember.This is what I need to remember as I now struggle.
Sr. Kathleen Ryan, OSB