Happy Teachers’ Day!
Teaching is one of the toughest jobs on the planet.
You expect VCs to only invest in companies that’ll do well, you expect salespeople to only pursue warm leads, but you expect teachers to nurture each student equally. Teachers are responsible for but not in control of a student’s success. Teachers don’t get to bunk class. Teachers are paid in pranks, caricatures and defacing names.
Of course, I’m absolutely unqualified to make these statements. I am, however, qualified to offer a student’s perspective.
I’ve blessed by teachers who pour their souls selflessly into their craft. The first time I understood an abstract concept, the first time I could manipulate my body a certain way, the first time I could ask a meaningful question. Those were transformational moments. Everyday magic.
Teachers, by imparting the DNA of your knowledge to your children, you preserve it for humanity. You also lay the bedrock for its “mutation”. As students, we first understand. Then tinker, then tweak, then augment. Boom! Like God, you’ve given us the power of creation.
My best teachers have also taught me how to unlearn what I learned from them. Thank you for the risk you took.
When you have tough days, when you feel apathetic, let your memory take you to an erstwhile decade where a tiny Jesika stared at you wide-eyed, listening with rapt attention (mostly). Even on your worst days, your invisible words and too-visible red pen marks painted an inedible canvas of your perspective of the world in her mind.
I hope you remember her fondly, for she certainly does the same.
Happy Teachers’ Day!
