Audio Stories: 1/29/12

1. "I'm curious how could I have reached out to you better"
http://storycorps.org/listen/stories/antero-garcia-and-roger-alvarez/

This story really touched my heart. It was about a student who dropped out of his high school during his senior year and never graduated. This conversation took place between that student and his teacher. In the teachers voice, you could somewhat tell that he felt responsible for the student dropping out. However, when the student was ask "at the beginning of the year, did you think you would drop out", the student replied "yes". This is because the student felt that he didn't have enough knowledge to complete the grade.

One very important part of this story is that the student, Antero, tells his teacher that him dropping out is not his teachers fault. He thanks his teacher for trying so hard to teach him. He said that most teachers only pay attention to a certain group of student (most likely the smart, well-behaved ones), however his teacher, Roger, went out of his way to pay attention to all of the students. You could tell that Antero regretted dropping out of high school when he was so close to graduating. In fact, he still hopes to obtain his GED.

In the high school that Antero comes from, only 48% of the students graduate. This to me is very sad because that is less than half. I can't imagine what the school culture would be like at high tech high if less than half of our peers dropped out.

2. "he was a strong fit kid, so I really didn't think anything was wrong"
http://storycorps.org/listen/stories/dennis-and-buelah-apple/

In this story, two parents, Dennis and Buelah Apple, lost their son Denny when Denny was only 18 years-old. Denny died a rather sudden death from a sickness called mono. Mono can be treated and typically doesn't kill fit young people. However, in a rare case, Denny apple got sick from mono and died over night. When his parents found him dead in the morning they thought their lives were over. Neither of them wanted to go on. They even considered committing suicide. However, because they had another son to look after, they didn't.

This story was recorded twenty years after the death of their son. As they talk, you can still hear the pain in their voice, however it is clear that time has greatly helped to heal the deep wounds. They talk about life after the death of their son and how they had to make a decision years after he passed if they would keep deeply grieving, or try to be happy again. They came to the conclusion to be happy again for their son. They knew that was what he would have wanted.

I can't imagine losing a child, but I know if it ever happened to me, I would probably face the same struggles not knowing how to continue my life.