small children

as i collapsed on the grass after a one-mile run yesterday (i'm thoroughly out of shape...), i couldn't help but watch this boy play in the long jump sand pit. he must have been no more than 4 or 5 years old, and was very meticulously filling his right shoe with as much sand as he possibly could. the catch was, his right shoe was, in fact, one of a pair of sandals, so whenever he thought the sandal was completely filled and was ready to be brought to his father, he would pick it up, and half of the sand in the sandal would fall out. still, he patiently sat down and attempted to do it all over again. the second time, he was much more careful as he picked up the sandal - keeping his hands steady. unfortunately, a bit of sand still escaped him, so he sat back down to fill the sandal back up again. he continued to do this a few times until he finally got it right, and slowly, steadily and proudly brought his trophy to his father with a big smile on his face.

(i, of course, watched like a creepy stalker this whole time and quickly looked away in the other direction when his father's gaze suspiciously met mine and our eyes locked for a brief half a second...)

the point is, i'm sure everyone has had that moment as they watch children play and learn and think to themselves what a miracle a child's life is. a colleague used to describe it so perfectly: it really is incredible that children have this natural ability to soak up knowledge like a sponge and a pure sense of curiosity for the world around them.

i am by no means ready to have children, and this is not one of those posts during which i confess that my biological clock is ticking. no, no. but i do have to admit that this is probably the biggest part i will miss about my old job - to know that what i was doing was, hopefully, making a difference in education (even in the smallest, tiniest bit).

i started watching the west wing a few days ago and have been hooked. in the show, sam seaborn, the deputy communications director, says something along the lines that for the majority of americans, education is prioritized as the most important issue in politics. of course, leave it up to me to quote a fictional tv show for facts, but i have no doubt that that is the truth. at least, i want to believe that that is true. somewhere and somehow down the road, i certainly hope that my path and career will cross again with education.