Encouragement is like Water to the Soul, it makes Everything Grow

In life I think back on my journey, and I think about the things that truly matter along the road thus far. I remember people along the way that have encouraged me and supported me. I think most of us in life would agree that encouragement is so important. Most us crave the cheerleaders in life that root for us along the way. Many of us have our parents that have been a source of encouragement, our siblings can often offer support. Hopefully each of you have had a teacher or boss that have encouraged you as well.

Looking back on my life I have had some great support in chasing my dreams. I remember I was in the 8th grade at Mascoutah Middle School when I auditioned to host our talent show. I was truly nervous and I had some people that told me I’d never get it. I remember walking into the audition and being so nervous, filled with doubt and fear that it would be impossible to get. I remember auditioning for two grade school teachers, Mrs. Furgeson and Mrs. Bower, I remember walking in and smiling because I knew their faces and it was truly exciting to have them in the room. I auditioned for them, and came back the next day to school and walked up to the posting on the wall to find MY NAME! I was beyond excited because that was one of the first things in my short life that I actually had achieved. Friends came up to me during school and said that it was rigged and I shouldn’t have gotten it because they were my teachers in grade school, which was a lie. I never had them as a teacher. I remember later that day the director for the talent show came up to me at rehearsal and said that out of the 8 people that auditioned, the teachers said they felt I was born to be the host. Which has stayed with me to this day. I remember the day of the show being so confident and excited to be in front of the school hosting with a girl named Aimee. It was one of the most thrilling experiences.

Looking back I remember how important that moment was for me, being around so many people who said that I shouldn’t be there or didn't deserve to be there. Finally finding out that those teachers said that I was born to do this.

Another memory; It was my freshman year of high school at Belleville East. I had just moved from a small-town Mascoutah that had a school of 300-400 people. Then arriving to East which was a school of thousands. It was quite a culture shock for me because I didn’t know one person. That was hard for me because I knew everyone at my last school. I had always been bullied as a child, I was called almost every name that you could imagine. So when I arrived to East I was ready for change and for a new opportunity, and as much as it sucked I was ready to start fresh. When I arrived to my first day, I was very nervous and I kept to myself and secretly cried to myself when my Dad dropped me off at my first day of high school. I didn’t want him to know how scared I was so I waved him goodbye and told him that I’d see him after school. I remember going to my freshman English class and meeting the best teacher ever, Mrs. Phatsadasack. On the first day of school I just felt that she was an incredible person. Throughout the year she would listen to me and give me great advice. I would often go to her class during my lunch break to help her with whatever she needed help with. I quickly got plugged into more areas because of her encouragement, she connected me with the school paper to be a contributor. I told her that I wanted to be a journalist, and she was such a source of encouragement. Through the year she became one of my favorite people at the school. At the end of my freshman year she gave me the Lancer Medallion award, which was given by teachers to someone who they saw as outstanding. It meant so much to me because of how much she helped me that year; she helped me land on my feet and meet people at the school through her introduction.

These are just a couple of stories that have stuck on in my life on this journey to my dreams, and I hope they share insight on me. The one thing that I wanted to leave you with today in all of this is never underestimate the value of encouragement. Encouragement although it may seem small makes a world of difference.

“Encouragement is like water to the soul, it makes everything grow.”

I hope that when you look back on your life you had a few life changing moments that helped you become the person that you are today. I felt it was important to share stories about people from outside of my family.

Whatever you are facing today, I hope you keep going, and I hope you never give up. If it had not been for Mrs. Phatsadasack, and those two teachers encouraging me, I may have never tried.

@chrisburkmenn