I come from a line of educators and, in my house, you knew to always respect your educators and your opportunity of getting an education. We have the opportunity to learn and make a better future for ourselves and our generation. The way I see it is, educators have the ability to mold the future via the multitude of students that pass through the desks and hallways of a school. They can shape the lives of any and all of their students to make a more promising path for the future generations to follow.

I know you hate algebra and you don’t really see the point of variables and nonsense equations, but what about the future architects? What about our engineers, rocket scientists, chemists – where would they be without basic math?

Who really wants to learn about cell production and meiosis and all that jazz? Well, where would our doctors be without basically biology? What about pharmacists? Where would they be without basic chemistry and knowledge on how the human body works?

We need educators to teach us all of this information for us to become the future leaders of America and they need us to give them a little bit of respect for their jobs. Beyond the fact that educators are there for our benefit, and I really mean that because just look at the salary of a teacher and tell me they do it for the money (they don’t), they put up with us. Educators put up with some crazy stuff from students and parents. The horror stories my mom would come up with are enough to make you not want to be a teacher, and that’s exactly why they deserve our respect.

You may think you’re just the funniest person ever and interrupting class is great (and I’ve done this my fair share of times), but the time and effort educators put into lesson plans and making sure we learn everything we need to learn in the short time we have with them is mindboggling. The stress of planning worksheets, exams, power points, projects and grading everything on top of that is incredibly high. Yet, they choose to do this. Educators choose to go to school, earn a degree, and go back to teaching in a school. They choose to be some of the amazing people that mold the future with their knowledge and patience of your bull that you give them every day.

Remember this next time you decide to disrespect an educator. Remember that they are there for you, not for themselves. They dedicate a majority of their lives to make sure you get an education so that you can move up in the world and become whatever you set your mind to. I think our educators deserve a round of applause for their patience and ability to be surrounded by us fools all day.