Unmet expectations

I realize I'm just the teacher.

That my expectations for past students are just that...expectations... and once they leave my classroom those expectations should be forgotten.

But they aren't.

You can ask me about a previous student and I can tell you that as their third or fourth grade teacher what I expected to come of them as they got older.

I had a student my fourth year of teaching that I adored! She was the perfect student, was a great athlete, and had a wonderful family! My expectations for her were set that much higher because of the potential that I saw in her as a fourth grader. It was six years ago that I had her in class. She is now a junior in high school.

I found out today that she is pregnant.

I am crushed.
My expectations were not met.

Again, I realize that once a student leaves my classroom my expectations do not matter.
I am just a blip on the radar screen of their life.
But when a student with so much potential doesn't meet my expectations, I wonder where they could have possibly gone down the wrong path. How could they have changed so much in the last few years?!

To me, it is just so disheartening.

And yes...I have expectations for all of my students. I just hope one day all of them are met...