THE NARRATIVE ARC | PSYCHOLOGY | LIFE LESSONS
My Earthquake-Survivor Student Found Hope Again
How a classroom game changed his life
Henry arrived suddenly in mid-senior year and was taller than anyone in our class. He was funny, full of joy, popular yet self-deprecating. Kind and respectful. Something happened when he joined our class. Everyone became a little happier. I was happier.
He was everything you’d want in a student except for one thing.
Henry could not pass a test.
Everything he could tell you when you asked him was magically erased from his brain the minute he sat down in front of one.
This Is Not A Test
I finally stopped using the word test. He’d panic immediately even when we’d spent the entire week reviewing for it and he knew it was coming.
“Is this a test?” he asked.
I could see the sun already setting behind his eyes.
No Henry, I said, it’s an educational assessment, that’s all.
“I can’t. It’s a test. It will not work. Everything in my head is there and then it is gone. I give up.”