The two most common reactions I reactions I receive after I tell people my chosen profession are: “Oh...why would you want to do that?” or the kinder, but still confused, “You’re so brave!” And I’m not planning on scaling Everest. I am hoping to teach middle school. I’ve spent a considerable bit of time defending my reasons, to myself and to others, for wanting to devote my life to voluntarily working with people in the midst of a time of life that most of us would gladly forget. And so, I want to make a short but heartfelt defense in the public arena for our angsty, challenging, hilarious, sometimes embarrassing, exceedingly awkward, but infinitely wonderful “transitioners.” I believe that we can learn quite a bit from them.
So, without further ado.... Lessons from the Middle!
*Warning: Overuse of bold, italics, UPPERCASE, and exclamations ahead!!!! (We're talking about middle schoolers here.)
Lesson#1: Tension is GOOD

Lesson #2: Bring on the identity crises!

Hopefully, as you sailed through shark-infested waters, you realized that while the winds and rains were out of your control, it was up to you to adjust your sails and take the helm. I hope you realized that you identity was not something imposed from without, but an expression of your personhood, reflected and shaped by the decisions you made.
Identity crises can be vital moments of conversion. They force us to look in the mirror of our souls and ask ourselves if we like what we see. If we don't, are we willing to change? Identity crises force us to recall who we want to be, or, more importantly, who we are called to be. St. John Paul the Great understood the value of these moments, addressing them positively when speaking to youth in Compostela, Spain in 1989. "What do you seek? Each one of us here must ask himself this question. But you above all, since you have your life ahead of you. I invite you to decide definitively the direction of your way. With the very words of Christ, I ask you: 'What do you seek?' Do you seek God?"(1)
Lesson #3: Under [Pressure]
Oftentimes, middle schoolers are lambasted for falling prey to peer pressure and putting extreme stress on their peer relationships. I'll admit that I'm biased towards middle schoolers, but, honestly, are we being fair to them? How many of us have actually outgrown the tendency to want to swim with the tide and blend into conformity? It's painful to stick out and take an unpopular stance, even when conscience is at stake. It's easy (and self-deceptive) to look at peer pressure as something we outgrow.
In reading My Battle Against Hitler, I was struck by how the debilitating and poisonous fear of rocking the boat made otherwise good adults, including leaders within the church, compromise with the evils of national socialism, paving an easy pathway for Hitler's takeover. The silent assent of many allowed Hitler, with the help of his SS thugs and pandering admirers, to become the ultimate bully, choosing the "losers" who would become victims and the "supermen" who would take control of the schoolyard of Europe. Perhaps the willingness to conform to social pressure that we criticize freely in young teens should give us pause for personal reflection.
Do we surround ourselves with people whose consciences are alive and active and encourage us to live according to our own? Or do we prefer to toss our moral compass overboard and shut our eyes to the rocks ahead in order to keep a cozy spot on board with our shipmates?

It does not matter how old we are; the pressure to agree with the status quo is always present. An inspiring witness of how young people can overcome social pressure, Malala Yousafzai, 2014 Nobel Peace Prize Winner and activist for the education of girls in the Middle East, reminds us that "when the whole world is silent, even one voice becomes powerful."
Lesson #4: The Best is Yet to Come!
This is perhaps my favorite quality of the middle years. Middle school students are keenly aware that they are in-betweeners. They dream, naively and nervously, of high school, their driver's license, increased freedom, new friends, girlfriends, boyfriends, college, careers, travels, and adventures. They are under no delusion that these middle years are the "best years of their lives." Few of them have made serious commitments of any kind and still look at life as a range of possibilities. But the "firsts" of life pass by one by one, many completely different in reality than the electric, sparkling expectations we form during our early years.

So rather than roll your eyes at the stupid, selfish mood or just plain awkward things that early adolescents do, take a moment to remember that you may not be so different from them after all. Encourage them to be patient and courageous through the tension. Help them find ways that they can become themselves through loving others. Pray that they have the strength to stand up for what is right. Fan their flames of hope for their own great and beautiful future.
And then, do the same for yourself.
(1) "Blessed Pope John Paul II: Champion of Catholic Youth and Vocations," http://www.calledbychrist.com/mn-vocations/E-News-2011-05-Blessed-John-Paul-II-Champion-of-Catholic-Youth-and-Vocations.pdf.
(2) Dietrich von Hildebrand, My Battle with Hitler, 71.
(3) "5 Inspiring Quotes from Nobel-Winner Malala Yousafzai," http://www.inc.com/zoe-henry/5-inspiring-quotes-from-nobel-winner-malala-yousafzai.html.
(4) JOSEPH, http://thebandjoseph.com/
Images:
Teen
Climb
Malala
Hope
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