mandy inchaustegui

For my first job out of college, I was a teacher in a juvenile detention center. Every morning, 8-15 teenage women would walk from their cells, their hands behind their backs, dressed in scrub pants and a ratty sweatshirt, into my classroom. The guard would take their place in the back of the room and we'd get started with class.

First thing, we'd go over the classroom expectations ("This is your first warning. You get one more and then you are making the choice to spend the rest of the day back in your cell." Classroom management at it's finest!). Then, I'd follow with my "Very Important Things to Remember." Things like: "You are valuable no matter what," "Every day is a new day," and, "You are only responsible for your own actions." After passing out their individual pencils with their names taped on them, we would move to the journal topic. Usually, I would tell a story, something that had happened to me recently or sometimes I'd share something I had come across or read. I'd make some sort of connection to life's bigger picture and then give them a prompt to help them connect with that truth and ask them to write about it. After they were done with the journal, they'd move on to their school work and the day officially began.

I know they thought the beginning routine was for them: to remind them of the rules, to encourage them a bit because they were in jail and probably needed it, and to get them to write because that sort of thing can be helpful for people who are in stressful situations. This is true. However, the routine was also very much for me. I needed to remember the classroom expectations to remind me to be mindful of respecting everyone in the classroom throughout the day. Many days, I was the one who needed most to remember that I was valuable, I didn't have to live in the past and that I was personally responsible for my life choices. Finally, I absolutely loved having an outlet to externally process through the truth I was observing in the world around me, connecting it with my own thoughts, feelings and experiences. Reading the feedback from their journals was often more insightful than I could imagine, inviting me into many unique perspectives, different than my own.

I miss that job. I absolutely love that I'm home with my two boys, and I know they're glad I don't run my home like a jail, even though I'm pretty sure I'll get accused of that at some point as the years progress. But there were a ton of things that I mourned when I quit the detention center. A huge one for me was the opportunity I had to share with others what I was observing and learning as I traveled through life. I knew my life was very different than theirs but I discovered when it really came down to it, life's truth was life's truth. We were all on a journey together, trying to figure this thing called "life" out. And I believe, there's a lot of beauty and truth to be found all around us. We just need to pay attention.

So, I've started a blog. Finally. It will be filled with my thoughts and observations on the world around me as I question, learn, and grow. I welcome you to journey with me on a search for truth, wherever it may be found. Pretty sure it's going to take us to some interesting places. Let's get this party started.