Buck up buttercup

My best friend in high school would always tell me to “Buck up Buttercup” when we were doing something hard. We played sports throughout our whole high school experience and had many years of conditioning together. We would always be partners and pushing each other to be better. Whenever I wouldn’t want to finish a conditioning drill or didn’t think I could play another game she would just say, “Buck up buttercup.” Someway somehow we made it though all of those experiences. If a high school sports has taught me anything it is to never give up in life. Sometimes life is going to be hard and you just got to keep pushing on and know that it will get easier and you are going to make it through whatever you are going through.

On multiple occasions these last couple of days in my head I was telling myself to buck up buttercup. For example yesterday when I was lesson planning I was getting a little bit on the frustrated side. As a teacher you have to accept the fact that you are going to fail. You are going to have lessons that just don’t work and students are looking at you like you a speaking in some crazy language they have never heard of before. As I was looking for creative ways to do my lessons I was like I am getting nowhere with these kids. Then I was like hold on think back to the first day of school. When you read a short passage and not one of your students had a clue as to what you had just read to them. Now think last week one of your lowest reading level students was summarizing a story that you had read in class. I just have to remind myself that it just takes these students longer to catch on. So keep going you are making progress.

Then I got to thinking about how much I have changed since arriving on the island. My first day of class I can honestly say I did not know a single word in Samoan and had no idea what my students were saying. I know have caught my students cheating in Samoan. Yes, they thought that they could give each other the answers in Samoan and I would have no idea what they were saying. Jokes on them because that no longer works and they got in trouble for it. I also had a student who couldn’t think of the English word for a Samoan word and low and behold I understood what they were saying and could help them! I was pretty excited about that not going to lie!

Today I caught myself saying buck up buttercup one last time when I got home from school. I was talking to my friend Haley and my mom and it finally hit me how much I missed them. I was joking with Haley saying I am just going to teleport home for the weekend so I can quick see everyone and come back. After I had gotten home from school I caught myself lying on my bed surrounded by pictures of my family, friends from college, home, and Okoboji. I was thinking about how much I wish I could just sit down and have a face-to-face conversation with these people. Then I looked at a picture of Haley and could here her voice in the background saying, “Abby, get out of bed. You have one year make the most of it and come home in couple of months.” So I got out of my bed and decided to go for a run.

On my run I was tired and just didn’t want to finish and I got to thinking. Okay, Abby life is not always easy. God has a tendency to push you to your limits and sometimes a little farther then you have planned. Think of all the times you wanted to give up and you just kept pushing. I think partially because I am so competitive I have this mindset. I will not let myself give up in any situation its just how I am. So I kept telling myself to push through the run. Towards the end of the run this little boy started running next to me. I told myself I couldn’t stop because this little boy was not giving up. He helped me get through the run even though he had no idea that he did that. He just enjoyed the fact that his teacher was letting him run with her.

This trip I think is very similar to a marathon. In the beginning everything was new and exciting for me. I was so excited to see new sights, meet new people, and try new foods. Just like in a marathon you start out so excited that its finally here and that the day is finally here. Now I am getting to the middle of my marathon where times get tough. Where you get tired and just want to give up because some day’s things just don’t go as you planned. These are the days you keep pushing and keep getting better because in the end this will only make you stronger as a person. God never promised that life would be easy for us he just promised that he would help us get through it.

With Love,

Abby