Written by Jess Schneider, corps member at Roosevelt High School

Gratitude is a quality similar to electricity: it must be produced and discharged and used up in order to exist at all- William Faulkner

By that theory, I live an electric life.

At Roosevelt High, there are days where we are short on sleep, on energy, on pens and pencils, but something that is never lacking at our school is gratitude. Whether we’re being thanked by the teachers and students we work with, appreciated by those who simply notice our positivity, our laughter, our willingness to help, or even within my own team and the sense of unspoken gratitude we have for one another, we are constantly surrounded by thankfulness.

Clichés aside, words truly cannot express how wonderful and important appreciation is, not only in this line of work, but in life in general.  Every day when I come to work, I cannot leave the building without being thanked for something I’ve done. Whether it’s simply holding the door open for a student in the morning, or going out of my way to help someone who is struggling with an assignment, or attempting to make the lives of the teachers and staff at Roosevelt just a little less stressful, I am thanked endlessly. There are days after my most strenuous class that I end up almost in tears in our City Year office, affectionately nick-named “The Closet,” but after a few deeps breathes and a couple of moments of reflection, I’m able to see just how lucky I am. I walk into my next class and I’m greeted by some smiling faces of my students, accompanied by a “Hey Miss!” and even the occasional joyous exclamation of my name. My students might not outright say “Thank you for coming to class every day,” but I can tell by their smiles, their greetings, the way some shout my name as I walk in the door, that my presence is appreciated. That the fact that I show up on a daily basis and show them that in a world that can often seem too busy, too big, too distracted by adversity for them to be a priority, that someone cares. Someone wants to know how their day is, how they’re doing and what they need to not feel so lost, so behind, so forgotten. I am that person for some of my students, and for that, I am thankful.

So of course there are mornings where I wake up with a headache, with a stuffy nose, with a sore throat, with a strong desire to just go back to sleep. But I drag my near lifeless body out of bed, drink a cup of coffee and realize there is nothing else I could be doing that is anywhere near as entertaining, rewarding and wonderful as going to work and hearing the laughter of my teammates, sensing the gratitude of staff, coworkers and students alike, and of course, getting to be the smiling face, the constant beam of positivity and support for so many of my students who need that a lot more than I need a day off.

I had a student ask me “Jess, can you give me the answers?”

When I quickly responded with “What?! Of course not!” he said, “No, miss! Not like that. I mean… can you make this all make sense? You know, like you always do. You’re the only one that really helps me.”

And that’s when it hit me. This is why I ignore the headaches, the stuffy noses, and whatever other distractions are crowding my mind. I come in for that student. Not necessarily that one in particular, but “that student”. That student that needs a little extra help, a little extra patience- someone to be there when it seems like no one else is.

So when it comes to thankfulness and appreciation, I consider myself to be blessed. I am surrounded by gratitude every moment I open my eyes wide enough to see it. But I am also incredibly and indescribably thankful. My teammates are some of the most hilarious, thoughtful, intelligent people I’ve ever had the pleasure of wearing khakis with, the teachers and staff I work with are amazingly compassionate, patient and grateful people, and the students I work with are more insightful than they will ever know. They have shown me more than I could ever show them and taught me things that no amount schooling or training could ever teach me.

William Arthur Ward said “feeling gratitude and not expressing it is like wrapping a present and not giving it.” So with Thanksgiving just over a week behind us, and the holidays quickly approaching, I’ll be sure to give out every single present I wrap, and I’ll take this moment to express my extreme gratitude to everyone in City Year and at Roosevelt who has left their unique fingerprint on my heart.