Episode #9 Season 2 Overcoming Adversity and Building Resilience

Discover the transformative power of resilience through the inspiring journey of Jamie Barberich-Covill, a dedicated special education teacher who faced the harrowing challenge of a brain tumor diagnosis in 2006. Despite numerous surgeries and treatments, Jamie has not only continued to thrive as an educator and a loving mother but has also become a beacon of hope in her community. I am Lori Maxfield, your host on Wellness for Educators, and I invite you to explore the deep connection between personal well-being and effective teaching with us. From reducing stress to enhancing creativity, understanding how maintaining calm and balance can lead to better outcomes in the classroom is key. We'll also discuss the importance of building positive relationships, taking responsible risks, and practicing gratitude to fortify one's resilience.

In our latest episode, hear firsthand from Jamie, whose story exemplifies true courage and perseverance. Her ability to face adversity with strength and grace, despite the daunting medical hurdles, exemplifies Theodore Roosevelt's notion of courage: it's about going on when you don’t have the strength. Jamie’s narrative is not only a testament to resilience but also a reminder that asking for help is a sign of strength. As Jamie shares, sometimes the hardest battles give rise to the most profound growth and transformation. Whether you're an educator or someone seeking inspiration and guidance in your personal journey, this episode promises to offer insights and encouragement to bolster your own resilience in the face of life's challenges.

Thanks for listening!

Transcript

Speaker 1 0:20

This is Wellness for Educators, episode 9. You need to be well to teach well. That is the motto. Seeking a healthy balance. You matter, and so does your health. There is life beyond the classroom. This is February 19, 2025.

Speaker 1 0:36

Wellness for Educators. Lori Maxfield, your host, hope you are trying to find mindful practices. When we are calm, it directly impacts our physical health as well as our ability to be the best educator for our students. Being calm and relaxed offers numerous benefits, including reduced stress and anxiety, improved decision-making abilities, better concentration, enhance creativity, improve physical health by lowering blood pressure and heart rate, increase self-awareness, better sleep, positive social interactions and a greater ability to manage challenging situations effectively. Today, I have a guest with me, Jamie Barbarich-Covol. She has managed an extremely challenging health situation over many years. I know you will find her and her story inspirational.

Speaker 1 1:30

Today, the theme is resilience. What is resilience? According to Merriam-Webster, resilience is defined as the ability to recover from or adjust to misfortune or change. Here are a few ways to build resilience Build positive relationships. You need to find your support team. Encourage responsible risks. Resilience can be likened to a stress ball that springs back to its original shape after being squeezed. Ask for help If you personally are facing difficulties, do not be afraid to ask for help. I love this quote Asking for help is a sign of strength. Be brave enough to do it. Practice gratitude, cultivate gratitude in your class as well as in your daily life.

Speaker 1 2:19

Today, it is with great pleasure I introduce Jamie. Jamie has taught special education and is presently in her 25th year. She is teaching the Specialized Autistic Support class for kindergarten through second grade. Sadly, she was diagnosed with a brain tumor in 2006. She has undergone numerous surgeries and treatments, but always looks at the rainbow after the storm. Jamie is an incredible teacher, mother, wife and friend Braylon. Her oldest son is a freshman at the University of Arizona and her youngest, leighton, is 15 and actively playing ice hockey and attending high school. Jamie is an inspiration to our community and is probably the most playing ice hockey and attending high school. Jamie is an inspiration to our community and is probably the most resilient person I know. She's a colleague and a friend. I know you will be inspired by her story. She is certainly my hero. Welcome, jamie. Oh, thank you.

Speaker 1 3:15

Can you just share a little bit about your story. I know that anyone that listens will be just inspired by what you have been through over many years.

Speaker 2 3:26

Thank you so much for having me. I'll try and make it brief. When my oldest son was three months old, I just felt off. So my friend encouraged me to go to the emergency room and I wouldn't have gone if it weren't for my son Braylon. So he really, he saved my life.

Speaker 2 3:42

They found a six inch brain tumor. We were told that I wouldn't survive surgery. There was nothing that could be done and if I did have surgery that I would probably be blind and not be able to hear or walk or talk. But it was all that they could try to do. So I got to say goodbye, write letters, I made videotapes for my son for different milestones in his life and I walked myself in and had surgery.

Speaker 2 4:07

But somehow I woke up and right away asked my husband for a book I was kind of feeling to make sure everything was there and shocked a lot of people. And they did radiation and thought it would eliminate the tumor. But it did nothing and five months later it had grown back. So I had another surgery, wasn't quite as lucky. I had to learn to walk again and it was such an honor to be able to come through that. And it's continued to grow. Since then I've had chemo radiation, many surgeries and many experimental procedures which have kept me here, and I'm blessed that they keep trying things and coming up with new things to try.

Speaker 1 4:45

Wow, it's just miraculous. Your life has been miraculous. The part that is so overwhelming to me and so heartwarming is you have quoted Theodore Roosevelt. Courage is not having the strength to go on. It's going on when you don't have the strength. You have said that and you believe in your strength and the power of resilience. You say we have the power to overcome any storm. Can you share how you have been able to continue this mindset during these extremely challenging times?

Speaker 2 5:23

Sure. So for me, being positive and being resilient doesn't mean being perfect, but, honestly, when, every day, when we wake up, we get two choices. So we can either focus on pain and fear and despair, or we can be grateful for the life that we've been given and the time that we get to live and the time we get to spend with our friends, family, children, the things that we're doing, that we love, and I refuse to let cancer define me and the things that are happening to me seizures, whatever it happens to be at the time, the side effects of radiation. So I will take my life and look for the good in it, and that's all that I'm willing to accept. I will take my life and look for the good in it, and that's all that I'm willing to accept. I'll go on when the storm seems so big, because we can overcome any storm.

Speaker 2 6:13

We need to believe in the power of resilience. When we face hard things. They don't last forever and we can do anything for a little while. That's always something that I think. When something's happening, I just tell myself we can do anything for a little while and I'm here for some reason, so trying to figure out what that is. Hope I'm filling out whatever purpose that I'm still here for and I continue this mindset because I don't like the other option I will still continue to be strong and resilient until my last breath and, however lucky, how long that that is, it's to be wow, it's just pretty incredible.

Speaker 1 6:55

Lastly, over the holiday break you had to endure some special radiation. After swearing you would not have radiation again, you decided to run a 5k and you've said for every mountain there is a miracle and we don't need easy, we need possible. To me, this is an incredible feat, considering you've been faced with partial paralysis. Can you explain why you decided to run this 5k on January 1st?

Speaker 2 7:24

Well, I did it because so many people needed to see that I was okay. I can't walk well without a brace, in fact, really not at all. I have zero movement from my ankle down, can't move my foot or my toes at all and I'm not super steady at fall quite a bit. But I needed to remember that cancer doesn't define me and I needed others to see that. And I said after my surgery in November last year, in 2024, after the paralysis diagnosis, that I would run a 5k and it seemed very fitting, after having radiation, like it would be the perfect time to start the year, because we don't eat easy, we just eat possible. It wasn't easy to run that race, but it was possible, and what a great way to start a year.

Speaker 1 8:14

Wow, what an inspiration to us and to your children and to our whole community. One last question, Sure. One last question. If you, I mean I think about the job that you have and teaching these very challenging students and yet every day you come in faced with what you are, with your health issues, but you come in with a smile. You are working with these children that are extremely challenging and you always do it with a smile and it is just such an inspiration to me as well as our community. Teachers are faced with challenges every day. If you had a room full of teachers and you were talking about your resilience and thankfully, not everyone has these extreme challenges you have these extreme challenges, but other people have other challenges and if you were to give some advice, what would you say to teachers about their daily lives and how it can impact their students as well as just their own mindset?

Speaker 2 9:40

So when I come into my classroom every day, I know that my mood and the way that I present myself to the students sets the tone for their day. So I guess that's the first thing that I would encourage people to do is to smile, because a smile and a soft face and a warm heart is a welcoming place and a place where people are happy. Happy kids learn best. So, even though I might be battling, whatever it is that day and we need to acknowledge what's going on in our own life, because I also believe it's not healthy. We're positive but not perfect. So not to ignore that or put it on a back burner and, like you had mentioned, asking for help, is actually one of the most courageous things you can do.

Speaker 2 10:31

But I think just showing kids that we genuinely care, like our heart is there and we're happy to see them and we care about them, because I think that they can see and know our frustrations and acknowledge, like when you're frustrated or I made a mistake and it's okay to switch it, those are words we use, but switch your thinking when you make a mistake. You can always make good choices if you make a mistake and just in the society we live in, it's kind of so cut and dry we have to be perfect, we have to do everything right, we don't. And just in the society we live in it's kind of so cut and dry we have to be perfect, we have to do everything right, we don't. And just to help kids understand that, ok, I made a mistake but I can switch my thinking and I can try to do it again and it's OK, and this is an OK, safe space to do that. So I'm not sure that that quite answered your question, but yeah, for sure.

Speaker 1 11:23

I just think, the smile and just the safe space is so important and that we're not perfect. I think that sometimes teachers compare themselves to other teachers or what the situation may be that we're we're faced with challenges every day, but allowing our kids to feel that we're real too, that we're human and we do make mistakes.

Speaker 2 11:44

So I think I'm realizing too that you don't always have the best answers. Like I'm fortunate to work with a group of other adults and to acknowledge and know that we work as a team and I'm not the one who always has the best answer, and that's okay. And I guess as you get farther in your teaching career you realize how that is more acceptable. When you're younger, maybe you think I need to know it all. You don't?

Speaker 1 12:11

And every day is different. That's the part about teaching that I always really enjoyed.

Speaker 1 12:15

Yes, but the children that are in your class are just blessed to be with you every day. Thank you. Well, thank you, and, as you can see from Jamie's story that she has chosen resilience and positivity during these times, extreme hardship. You are loved, jamie. We are grateful for you, for your inspiration and your zest for life. If you are in the midst of a difficult school year, remember this quote from Nelson Mandela do not judge me by my success. Judge me by how many times I fell down and got back up again. Resilience is key and you can do hard things. Obviously, from Jamie's story, she is showing that she has had some very, very hard things, but she has fallen and gotten back up and we are so inspired by her life and the attitude that she has selected every day. So thank you again, jamie, for this time. Thank you, remember teachers. I am here cheering for you. Thanks to Ron Coleman for providing the music and thanks to you for being a positive influence to the future generation. You are a true hero. You need to be well, to teach well, find joy in the journey.

Speaker 1 13:36

This is Lori Maxfield and I thank you for listening to Wellness for Educators. If you have a friend who you think could benefit from this podcast. Please text them a link so that they can listen as well. If you can rate and review this podcast, I would appreciate it. I look forward to connecting again soon. Until that time, have a great, great day.