If He Can Come, Shouldn't I?

Today one of my favorite students asked,

"So we meeting at four again tomorrow?"

Unfortunately, he was not talking about after school. Instead he was talking about 4A.M. a time of day I knew existed only by others mention of it.

Thankfully he had his times mixed up and what he really meant to say was, "Should I get up tomorrow @ 4 so I can meet you here at school at 6?"

While 6 is definitely CLOSER to a time I regularly experience, I haven't been a morning person since my last years in high school. And here I was, being asked whether for the fourth day in a row, I was going to meet my struggling student (who also came in for 5 hours of help on Sunday).

I don't think it's possible to say no in a situation like this. To hear a high school sophomore volunteer to get up at four in the morning, knowing that he's not going to get home until eight at night? To hear him so concerned with his academic progress to recognize how much additional support he needs? To hear him willing to come listen to my beautiful voice, 2.5 hours more than he actually has to?

Is there a point where I can honestly look him in the eyes and say, "No, sorry I can't be there?" The fact is that he doesn't have a home environment conducive to learning, he needs one-on-one support to work through the material, and he can't work in the school without a tutor.

So what questions does this situation lend itself to:

1) Should a line be drawn which I will not cross in terms of time I sacrifice for students? Especially willing ones?

2) By not having him find other strategies and places to be productive am I holding his hand too tightly in order to prepare him for success in "college and beyond?"

3) Is it narcissistic for me to like the fact that I work four hours a day, and to not try to find other strategies that would allow me to devote time elsewhere?

For now it's easy. I do have the manpower, time, strength, and energy to keep having these 6AM mornings. But what happens when I'm a teacher. What happens when my case load goes from 12 students to 120. What then? Am I preparing myself to think that I can save the world "one child at a time" when in actuality there will be so many more balls to juggle next year? That there won't be enough hours in the day to save "one child at a time."

For now, all I know is this. When I have a student passionate enough to get up at 4AM to come to school I have to support that. I have to be there, with a smile beaming brightly to let him know how proud he should be of himself. Perhaps it's not sustainable, perhaps it's a bit unorthodox, but isn't love usually that way?