Stefanie's+Page

Hello, my name is Stefanie Grubbs. I am a senior at CU Boulder majoring in Linguistics and Spanish and I plan to pursue my passion of working with children and to one day teach elementary school. media type="file" key="Stefanie Grubbs TIB.mp3" width="240" height="20"



**Lessons Learned From a Child**
“What do you want to be when you grow up?” my adopted brother, Trever, asked me during one of my visits home from college. Looking into his childlike face, I thought: //I used to want to be a teacher but lately I had lost all confidence and motivation in that dream. How should I respond to that question when it held so much depth to me, but to him was just innocent curiosity?// I answered, “I have always wanted to be an elementary school teacher, but now I am not so sure, Trev. I am kind of confused right now.” Looking me straight in the eyes, he replied, “Stefanie, you would be a great teacher. You are kind, and generous, and thoughtful, and really smart.” His heartfelt response led me to aspire towards my previous goal of becoming a teacher. I later turned the question back to Trever asking, “What about you, Little Man, what do you want to be when you grow up?” Smiling, without any hesitation he uttered, “I want to be a baseball coach, or a karate teacher, or an elementary school teacher like you, Stefanie.”

I believe the lessons you can learn from children are invaluable. Children are innately good-natured; they see the world through a simplistic, optimistic lens focused solely on the good in people. It would benefit us grownups to learn strength from their resilient ability to experience the negative, grow from it, then quickly bounce back to their positive view. I was once an outgoing, resilient child until at sixteen the war raging between my mother and me reached a peak. I fled from my mother's house, into the arms of my neighbors and their two kids; Trever, 5, and Jaden, 1. Living with them showed me how I had changed over the years from an optimistic, eager child, like Jaden, who enjoys helping me by matching my socks, to a pessimistic adult with an easily triggered temper, like a landmine waiting to explode, if you stepped on my toes.

I remember a time when Trever was incessantly asking me questions and eagerly anticipating my reply. Annoyed and preoccupied with the current events in my life, I snapped at him without considering how it would affect him. His talkative and bouncy personality immediately withdrew to a silent, confused little boy wondering what he did wrong. With huge drops of water welling in his eyes, he said, “Stefanie, you hurt my feelings. It scares me when you yell at me.” Trever's straightforward, simplistic expression of his feelings startled me; I was becoming the spinning image of my mother. I suddenly understood that //if I just listen to him and meet him at the same level of conception, I could kill two birds with one stone; he would understand the situation and I would not corrupt his optimistic curiosity.//

We all start out as innocent children with an inherently optimistic view of the world. Somewhere along the path of growing up, our once-full glass is consumed and replaced with one half-empty. I believe in learning from children because if you open up to them and listen to their hearts and minds, you will find that they can teach you everything you need to refill your half-empty glass to the top.