Word: Tension

Sentence:

Tension is what we carry when two truths exist and neither lets go.

Passage:

This week held both joy and heartbreak.

I ran into a former student who told me he wants to become a principal. In the middle of the conversation, he turned to someone else and said I was the reason he became a teacher. I felt it immediately. Pride. Gratitude. The kind of moment you don’t forget.

His story is one of sacrifice. His family came to this country in search of something better. He became the first in his family to finish school and is now building a life that will change the trajectory of generations after him.

We don’t always get to see the seeds we plant become something years later. When we do, it feels almost sacred.

Not long after that moment, I got a message about another student. He had been arrested for shooting and killing a police officer at a local hospital.

He came to us as a youth in care, moving between foster homes, living in unstable conditions. When he first arrived, he was just a kid trying to find his place. Over time, he struggled to find connection in the right places. The risks grew. He left school before graduating and was pulled into a cycle that became harder and harder to escape.

And just like that, I was holding both stories at once.

One where everything we hope for begins to take shape.
Another where, despite everything we tried, it didn’t.

To know you can help change the direction of a life
and also know you cannot control all the forces shaping it.

To feel pride and heartbreak in the same breath.

Both of these young men are part of why I chose this path.
To give kids a chance at something different.

And still, we keep going.

Your Turn:

How do you stay grounded when the outcomes of your work pull you in opposite directions?

If The Match has meant something to you, pass it on to someone else.

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