Ben Giroux could not contain his excitement when his 5th grade teacher gave an assignment for National Poetry Month.
Typically, the 10-year-old boy isn’t very talkative because of his Aspberger’s syndrome-induced anxiety, but when his homework was to write a poem with each sentence starting with ‘I am’, Ben didn’t miss a beat.
Before turning in the work at his Cumberland Head Elementary School in Plattsburgh, New York, he showed the finished product to his parents. They found it so breathtaking, they couldn’t help but get all choked up and, later, to share it with friends.
The poem starts as a narrative describing someone who feels like an outcast – but as the piece concludes, it gives a beautiful insight on the differences that make everyone special.
“At first, we felt sad and hurt that he feels isolated, alone, misunderstood and odd at school,” Ben’s father Sonny Giroux told Today. “As the poem went on, we realized that he understands that he’s odd and that so is everyone else in their own way, which is what Ben wants everyone to embrace.”
Even though Ben was supposed to read his project to the class, his anxiety got the better of him and he stayed home from school. His dad, however, posted a picture of the poem to Facebook in hopes that their friends would offer encouragement.
“Ben’s goal was to have people understand that being odd is different, and different is amazing, and people shouldn’t be afraid of who they are,” Giroux said “And that makes me one proud father!”
Share This Inspiring Poem With Your Friends… Click To Share (Photo released by Sandy Giroux)