It was supposed to be simple.
But teaching is hard.
So we spent several weeks under the watchful eye of one of the Bnb writers, who IS a full time secondary school teacher. With him we prepared âLesson Plansâ.
Over two days we planned to present four workshops. Story-telling, character development, self expression and creative technology. This event was to be called Inspiration Aspiration

It was supposed to be simple.
It was supposed to be about the art. We were supposed to ask things like âWhat can inspire?â âWhat do you aspire?â âWhat is your desire?â and then say something like âCool. Now put it down in poetry, paintings and anything passionate.â We were to discover what made them tick and channel those energies towards creativity.
Impart our wisdom, make art and go home.
It was supposed to be simple.
What was supposed to be a group of about 20 young people turned out to be 3. Only 3 people… and that sucked!
Mentally telling yourself that you CAN teach, finding the time to build a workshop, flying over from Germany (Not all workshops leaders were British), all that hard work for only 3 people… 3 people.
But then, that was what was so simple.

He liked to write stories. He played video games and watched Anime. Admitting to us that he struggled to understand our world sometimes, the intentions of some people, the contradictions of our actions and our values, the complexities of human psychology and the dark places it can take us. The kids not even 18 yet.
She loved fashion, sketching dress after dress, she could translate ideas into a wearable form.
After being diagnosed with cancer at 15, she openly told us of her suffering, the pain so indescribable she’s not sure how she ever got through it and of how she now plans to live with purpose. We were in awe.

And, last but definitely not least, he was madly obsessed with Sonic the Hedgehog, even making fan comics. On a scale so large it simply took our breath away. Four or five sketchbooks full of Sonic drawings, the whole Sonic gang in fact, story-telling included, it was a comic, after all. He admitted that the the time dedicated to developing a talent of this degree came from anxietyâs in trying to make friends and avoid bullies as a young child.
Suddenly, all those sob-stories on X-factor meant something to me. These were real people, with real issues and all they wanted to do was create.
Inspirational people with aspirations.
It always was, and still is, purely about them.
Simple.
Adeeb