Back to School Takes on New Meaning When Life Becomes the Teacher
“Some of life’s greatest lessons aren’t tucked inside textbooks; they’re tucked inside the moments that test and transform us.”
Every August, lockers slam, pencils sharpen, and parents slip love notes into lunchboxes—rituals that signal a fresh academic year. Yet the bell doesn’t only ring inside brick-and-mortar schools. Sometimes it tolls in hospital corridors, chemo chairs, or any place where adversity re-writes the syllabus. That’s where I earned a hard-won degree in resilience, hope, and the art of living fully.
When I first heard the word cancer, terror drowned out every other thought. But somewhere between doctor visits and silent, tear-stained prayers, I realized I was sitting in a richer classroom than any I’d known. Cancer became my classroom. Every day was a lesson in letting go, holding on, and trusting God for the strength to keep moving. Each infusion taught surrender, each setback drilled perseverance, and each sunrise proved that gratitude is a muscle worth exercising.
Those lessons birthed Crushing Chemo Chic® , my mission to help women thrive beyond diagnosis. Through coaching circles, affirmation journals, healing retreats, and simple spaces to be heard, I remind survivors-in-training that they are still whole, worthy, and wonderfully capable of rewriting the narrative. We trade fear for faith, victimhood for victory, and side-effects for side-doors into unexpected joy. Together we discover that the real curriculum is courage, community, and compassion for ourselves first, and then for the world.
Children, too, step quietly into life’s pop-quiz when a parent battles illness. Watching my niece navigate worry with wide-eyed bravery inspired Healing Hugs: A Mother-Daughter Story of Love and Resilience. This picture book is a warm guide for little hearts. It turns sterile hospital rooms into storytelling sanctuaries where giggles bloom beside IV poles, and bedtime prayers outshine fluorescent lights. Even in the hardest seasons, love can be the greatest lesson of all. Within its pages, kids learn that hope is a hug you can hold onto.
So while we applaud the remarkable educators shaping young minds this fall, let’s also honor the everyday professors: patients who model perseverance, caregivers who practice unconditional love, and families who choose joy amid jagged uncertainty. Whether your chalkboard today is a boardroom, a chemo wing, a minivan, or a kitchen table, know this: you are both student and teacher in the sprawling school of resilience.
As backpacks zip and buses rumble away, may we all keep returning to life’s deeper lessons—choosing beauty in broken places, whispering courage into fearful corners, and handing out grace like extra recess. Because when life becomes the teacher, hope is the homework, and every brave step, every shared story, every healing hug earns us credits in the one subject that matters most: living and loving well, no matter what.
Charlisa Herriott, affectionately known as Coach C, the Crushing Chemo Chic®️, is a Cancer Survivorship Coach, Cancer Care Minister, and author of Healing Hugs: A Mother-Daughter Story of Love and Resilience. She empowers women to heal, live well, and thrive beyond life’s toughest seasons through faith, community, and practical hope. Connect with her at www.CrushingChemoChic.com and follow her mission @CrushingChemoChic®️ and #IAMTheHEALED®️.
