As a teacher, I would like to be an educator who is fair and who does not set limits on student potential. One moment that made me realize this occurred at a job as a lunchroom and playground supervisor. I was disciplining a sixth grade student who was having a disagreement with a classmate, and he was not being very cooperative. One staff member at the school was observing this student’s behavior and said to me, “He’ll be in prison by the time he hits 16.” This stuck out to me in a very negative way. I once heard that “you do students an injustice by setting the bar anywhere,” and in my opinion this staff member had already pre-determined this student’s bar. I want to give each student a fair shot when it comes to judgment. I think that instead of making judgments of these students, educators (myself included) need to encourage them to strive for the very best. We cannot “fix” any student’s life situations, but we also must not judge our students based on these life situations. What we need to focus on is creating an environment within the classroom where students have the opportunity to thrive; we should be encouraging growth and change within the classroom. I do not think that we can do this if we make these judgments of our students; I do not think that our students will be able to thrive if the people in their lives do not expect them to. We must not set these bars or limits. We instead must let the students show us who they are and what they can do.