To you, my dear students,
These days as you are taking your final exams and while you are writing I am sitting here in our classroom outside the door of which there is a picture that says, “Wise people talk to each other,” praying.
I pray for you, your well-being, for your blossoming friendships and for the success in life that you will share with so many people.
I pray that you never miss the train with the very person who is already waiting for you to love life with you.
I pray that you find the subtle solitude you learn to draw from to withstand and contradict the painful pressures of life's conformity. I pray.
I pray that you don't take a step backwards when the juxtaposition of pressure, pain, fear and joy challenges phases of your life. Those feelings just remind you to keep an eye out. Look out for those who, unlike you, may be held back by prejudice. These are the passions that will spur you to greater things and open your mind.
I pray that you never choose the easy way, especially in a sluggish and twisted society like the one we're living through now. Every wave that rises reminds you that you have your place in this society.
I pray that you always mean what you say and say what you mean.
I will always reach out.
And don't forget "smart people talk to each other."
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Rachida is an international educator, a language and Literature teacher, and an educational innovator. She started her career in Germany, where she was a teacher trainer advocating the importance of relationships above academics. She then moved to Luxembourg where she teaches German Language and Literature classes to middle and high school students. Rachida emphasizes the importance of aesthetic practices, where equity always marks a starting point for students to experience self-efficacy. Rachida is an award-winning poet and uses her literature classes to teach compassion, equity, and justice while encouraging her students to be their authentic selves. She has now taken on her new role as a member of a steering committee implementing a new school concept by creating a shared vision and helping bring this vision to fruition as the new school opens this year.
