Every summer since I began high school, I worked as teacher assistant for a first grade class. Every morning, parents drop off their children in the schoolyard where all the counselors gather to watch their class. That particular morning, I had just turned around to chat with another counselor but when I refocused on my class, I realized that I lost one of the students within a span of thirty seconds.
I felt that heart gripping panic that parents must feel when they lose their children. Within that short time frame, I came up with ridiculous theories of his disappearance. I probably watched too much Law & Order: SVU. I immediately recomposed myself and squashed those ridiculous notions down. Panicking would not help me find him. I had to remain levelheaded. I scoured the schoolyard but I quickly discovered that distinguishing him from other students was difficult because they were all about three feet tall and were bouncing around everywhere. To my greatest relief, he was not abducted by human traffickers or organ harvesters. Instead, I found him playing with a group of older kids who were huddled around him. I heaved a sigh of relief and chastised myself for failing to keep a good watch over all the students.
After finding him and running through that scenario in my mind again, I realized that I would have been solely responsible for his disappearance. I would have had to explain to his parents that I had lost their beloved son because I was momentarily distracted by speaking to someone. At that moment, I became keenly aware that I am an adult. Therefore, I would be held accountable for my actions. I learned that I must be vigilant and pay attention to my surroundings when I have responsibilities to fulfill. If I had been more attentive in that moment, I would have seen he had just wandered off. Given this incident, I have kept a closer eye on him and the other students and I am pleased to say that since then, I have not lost any other student.
