There’s a statistic somewhere that says that you spend more time with teachers than you do your own parents. School encompasses most of our life and we spend so many years with strangers that our parents trust us to be with. People that mold us and shape us to be who we are and fill our minds with some information with temporary importance like starting your essays with a quote and some with lifelong importance like “make good choices.” We take these people for granted every day. Some people probably don’t remember half of their teachers. That’s understandable but we all have at least one teacher that stood out to us as we went through our education.

There was always that one teacher that stood up for you when you were about to get detention because of a misunderstanding or the one that knew not to send you to a guidance counsellor because you had a bad day. Sometimes it’s simply a teacher that was admired from afar. The teacher that made you understand subjects that you never thought you would because they were born to teach. The one that inspires you to do good in the world and makes you truly believe you can do anything you want.

I’ve had so many teachers that I never truly thanked for all that they did. They may not know how they helped me or they may never understand why but they did. It was their class that I retreated to when it was a stressful day. It was their office that I went to just to vent or figure out something about life. It was that teacher I went to to fill my craving for more knowledge. I’ve had teachers that just let me sit in their classroom because I needed a break or I was simply curious and wanted to learn more about something else rather than “run” track in gym.

These are the people that are important in society. Politics, science, math, and languages are important yes but this world would be no where without our educators. The teachers and professors are the ones that shaped our minds to think the way we do. Teachers are the future of this world. They are the most influential people in this world. Society relies on them. Somehow these ordinary people appear as perfection. They are this beacon of hope and happiness and all things good in the world. Sometimes it feels like they were made like the Powerpuff Girls. They are ordinary people but they just exude perfection in all they do.

I’ve had professors defend me because they know I didn’t do anything wrong. I’ve had professors push me even if I didn’t enjoy it. I’ve had teachers help me realize my potential. I’ve had teachers show me how to defend my side in an argument. They go underappreciated every day, especially as we get older because our parents stopped buying our teachers mugs and plants every winter and summer break.

I just wanted to say thank you. Thank you to all the teachers that do great things in this world. Thank you to all the teachers that put up with all their own problems and still put their everything into their job. Thank you to the teachers that look at us, students, as more than just their job. You are all a rare gift to this world.