Floating

One of my favorite students, a senior, stopped coming to school right before spring break. I knew she had been suffering from a bad case of senioritis, but I didn't probe the matter... until she had missed so many days that she was given what is essentially "dropout" status. I emailed her -- no response. I called her home, using the phone number listed on her online school profile -- disconnected. I told one of my administrators about her, and he sent a team over to her house to investigate -- no outcome. I was at a loss. I figured I wouldn't see her in school again.

Then I realized I was being an idiot. While she doesn't have any close friends in her Environmental Science class, surely someone had to have her cell phone number. And, thank goodness, someone did.

She picked up the phone when I called her yesterday afternoon, although, when she heard my voice, she promptly burst into tears. I convinced her to let me take her to dinner later that evening. When we finally met up, she told me what was going on: She was overwhelmed with work and mildly depressed. She initially decided to deal with her anxiety and depression by staying in bed; this led to an even greater feeling of powerlessness, especially at the prospect of having to make up all the work she was now missing, until she decided to stop coming to school at all. It wasn't just high school that she was giving up on -- she also quit her job without warning, and she stopped returning her friends' phone calls.

I did my best to mix tough love and encouragement. I told her several times how stupid she was to drop out in the spring of her senior year. I told her she had better deal with being overwhelmed, because it is a pretty frequent life experience. I told her that nobody in the 21st century would respect a high school dropout. But I also told her over and over again how awesome she is, how much I missed seeing her every day, how I had made such an effort to track her down because I felt she was worth it.

We came up with a game plan for her to get back on track academically. I told her that she must start to seek out help when she needs it. She cried and cried and told me she didn't want to be a high school dropout.

She's coming to school today.