Angel, The Third Grader With The Mustache

I hate to be the first person to leave a good party, but I simply must talk about a student who I have the pleasure of working with on a daily basis. First off, congratulations to Mom, who currently holds the record for the subject of a posting with the most replies. And while I'm thinking about it, happy birthday (in case you missed it the first time).

Angel, who is from Mexico, is a third grader at the elementary school where I work. On occasion, he wears an old classic rock shirt (notably The Who or The Rolling Stones). Having not been in the United States for too long, his English vocabulary is limited. He does, however, come up with a remarkably hilarious phrase on almost a daily basis. His most recent being "my brain is getting smarter!" after having answered a difficult math problem correctly. Angel reminds me of why I got into teaching to begin with. He's very artistic and comes up with some of the most elaborate-yet-simple drawings that I've seen from a young person in a long time. Students like Angel are the exact reason I love the artwork of children. When I work with him, I anticipate what my future consists of once I get into my own classroom.

A very unusual thing about Angel is that he has a mustache. The first time I saw it, I exclaimed how magnificent it was. Even for a man of my age to grow. I asked how he's able to grow it to such a thick capacity. He refuses to answer, pleading embarrassment. Like I've explained to him, once he gets into middle school, he'll be the envy of the boys, as well as the prey of the girls. Everybody digs a mustache, I tell him. As long as it's not one of those peachfuzz ones that pedophiles often sport.