"Miss Wright's on the path to awesome. She's carefree, fun and just her own person. She's not basic."

During a classroom scavenger hunt today my student's had to come introduce themselves to me for one of the tasks. I asked each of them, "What's something you love to do?" followed by, "What's something you wish you were better at?" The vast majority of them answered that they wished they were better at things like math, science, soccer, gymnastics, basketball. These straight forward answers were what I expected so I was surprised and excited when some of them thought outside the box.

I wish I were better at…

Getting my homework done on time

Paying attention because I stare off into space a lot

Being a better teammate

Not being hard on myself when I make a mistake

Talking to people because it makes me nervous

Helping more people

Magic

Being selfless

Being social

Making friends

These answers showed maturity and self-awareness. I wonder how often we think about how we could improve. If we don't have an idea of how we want to change then we probably won't get there.

 

Tonight I picked up Libby, a sophomore YL girl, and took her to dinner. About a year ago I gave her a Moleskine, my favorite kind of notebook, and filled the first pages with Top 10 list topics, quotes and verses. She has become a list fanatic and made notebooks for several of her friends. Now almost every time Libby and I hang out we always write together.

After we finished eating we wrote these litsts together,

• Top 10 Essentials to Sarah Wright/Libby Hendricks (my list included things like Diet Coke, friendship bracelets and Nike shorts)
• Top 10 Things That Feel Like Home
• Top 10 Moments I Wish I Could Relive
• Top 10 Things I'm Proud Of

If you haven't already tried the practice of writing lists you might find that you love it. If you think of any great list ideas I'd love to hear them.