Liz Orvis

“I never knew I lost it until I found it!” by Liz Orvis

Submitted to Contest #192

I have always been a relentlessly positive cheerleader. I was chosen as Co-Captain of the Swim Team and President of the Choir Department in high school not because I was particularly skilled at either of those activities – frankly I was pretty bad at both. I was chosen because I motivated people to go farther than they ever realized they could go. That I could cheer them on, on the most difficult of days, and help them to know that they were both wanted and needed. I gave warm, enveloping hugs, and not so much advice as ...

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“A Second Chance” by Liz Orvis

It's been a really, long, exhausting year. It's my third year as a teacher, but for some treason this year has been much more difficult than the others. I have the same responsibilities as other years, even the same, loving students, but this year feels so different.   When my alarm goes off in the morning, I struggle to even open my eyes. I used to be so excited to start the day that I would jump out of bed into the delightful hot water of the shower, cleaning myself up and preparing me to take on one more day as a ...

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“The teacher, the staff members, and the student” by Liz Orvis

Submitted to Contest #189

“Let me out of here!! I’ll miss the big game!!” Buddy was a star member of the football team. Super popular and very handsome, but he was also a big bully. He especially liked to pick on the kids with special needs because they were easy targets and didn't fight back. Recently, Mrs. Scheuler, one of the special education teachers, caught him giving swirlies to all the kids with autism, while the rest of the football team stood around cheering, and she assigned him to a week's worth of detention, and now, here he wa...

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“Wow, That's a GREAT Deal!” by Liz Orvis

Submitted to Contest #188

“Sydney, there are ten more boxes out on the porch!” “Okay....thanks”. How did this happen? I don't even remember buying any of these things. I wonder how much money I spent altogether? It must have been quite a bit because I got a notification from my bank that one of my accounts was at or near zero... which isn’t great because I don’t have any extra money this month. I have a disease called Bipolar Disorder 1, which means I sometimes have high, highs (called Manias) and low, lows (called Depressions). The goal is to...

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“Dear God...” by Liz Orvis

Submitted to Contest #186

God? YES, MY DARLING? I don't want to live any more, can you please take me to Heaven? I'M REALLY SORRY, SWEETHEART, BUT IT’S NOT YOUR TIME, YOU HAVE MUCH TO DO. WHAT ARE YOU STRUGGLING WITH? MAYBE I CAN HELP. It's just, you made me to do great things, I know you did. You helped me to excel in undergrad so that I got a degree in Special Education Cognitively Impaired. Then you helped me through a Master’s in Applied Behavior Analysis and a Board Certification to be a Behavior Analyst. I was gifted in these areas, and so prepared,...

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