Most people who aren't teaching majors call us crazy, and we may be, but every aspiring teacher has at least one thing in common...other than a lack of sanity. We all have that one past teacher who inspired us to teach. Every teacher, past or present, knows this person because, to put it simply, they are the person who changed their life forever.
To the teacher who inspired me:
First and foremost, thank you for instilling my love for lifelong learning. You taught me how to grow. By watching you, I found a part of me that I will be eternally grateful that you helped me unearth. You never gave up on any of your kids. You treated us as equals, arguably even, equal to your own biological kids. You treated the homecoming queen with the same respect you did the mathlete. You loved the kids who were not; the ones from unimaginable home lives who felt like no one cared, the ones who were bullied, the ones who felt like no one cared. By doing so, you became a hero; you saved lives.
On a good day, you made school a blast and on a bad day, you did everything you could to make it better. I want to make the bad days good, to make the unloved feel special, to be a hero like you. You showed me that education is a gift and you gave your students that gift like it was Christmas every single day. You taught us that every creature is precious--to be kind to everyone and every thing. This is a life lesson that I am positive each of your students carried with them through life, whether they are a teacher or not.
You inspired me to think beyond the reason of the world, beyond the math and science of it all, and to appreciate the arts. I have found my greatest passions because of you. I can only dream that one day one of my students will be writing to me years after they graduate to tell me the same.
You are a survivor, and because of that, you realize life is short. Therefore, you dared us to dream. You dared us to spend what little time we have here doing something we adore and because of you, I am. Something you always said was, "you can't ruin a paint brush." This taught me a lesson much more valuable than you probably intended to teach me that day in art class. You taught me that, basically, no matter what kind of nasty gunk you rubbed in, there are few things in life that you can't simply wash away and start new. Resilience.
The first thing they'll teach you in teacher school is that it is vital to establish trust with your students. Most of us would have trusted you with our lives. I hope one day to be a quarter of the sensational educator you are. I pray that, just one day of my career, I may inspire one of my students the way you did every day. Because of you, I have seen the value of lifelong learning and growth. I am doing a job I am completely head over heels in love with, and there is only one reason for it; because you did amazing at your job.
Thank you.
