Short Term 12

On our last night in Maui, we stayed at an air bnb run by a women named Janice. Janice was super sweet and welcoming. Through conversation Annie and I told her we were programs guides in a wilderness therapy program (the go to description as it is very hard to describe what we do). Well, come to find out the Janice’s son is a movie director who wrote and directed a film called Short Term 12. The story takes place at a foster child/therapy facility that house kids as they weight for placement.

After watching, I can easily say this is the closest representation of my job that I have found. We have way more rules (i.e. no technology) and never leave students alone, but beyond that the emotional roller coaster (walking with students that want to leave) and the unknown surprises that come each day are spot on. 

My nine months here thus far have been ones that I would never have imagined. I often wonder if I saw this movie prior to coming here if I would have taken the job. I don’t know. Part of me wishes I could see the film unexposed to the things I have seen, just to have a raw reaction. Because, honestly, all the things that happened in the film didn’t faze me. And that kind of scares me. But I suppose, at this point, there is no going back.