Sixteen years... that is how long I have been going to work. Day in and day out, I journey to my job. Some days I go willingly and others, not so much. In the beginning my mom would take me, sometimes my dad. Eventually, I got old enough to take myself. Slowly but surely I was trained in my career. How to add and subtract, how to write in cursive, and eventually skills as difficult as calculus and chemistry. Years of work put in, countless piles of paperwork, and don't even get me started on the employee evaluations! Each year came with a new promotion and a new manager. Eventually, my group would be transferred to a bigger, more advanced building. I always had a sore spot for school. Even enough to think of it as that dreaded job many of us fear of falling into. This is how I thought for many years until something changed. It happened right in the place I hated most. Trapped in a room with four walls as dull as a murky river. A teacher who had a message to plant in the minds of all those who wanted to listen. Only now am I beginning to see the beautiful creation that has grown from that seed. So to the teacher who truly inspired my passion for learning here is to you for helping me discover my future.
To The Teacher Who Inspired Me
We were strangers when we met. You had something to say and I had open ears. Sitting quietly in my seat waiting, watching, wondering what you had in store for me. As the days began to pass, I began to learn what you presented was never a lesson, but a message. It was not meant for the present, but to be cherished in the future. A future that you created for me and inspired me to believe that I could be anything I dreamed of. The message may seem corny to many, but that is where so many go wrong. A message so seemingly simple, yet so many could not see its true goal. The message that lead to what was beyond plain white walls and hard, plastic chairs. Yet I saw it, something I had never seen before, a new perspective of the secrets your classroom held. The atmosphere you created was one that was thick with exploration and discovery. An excitement filled the air as you challenged the class to think in ways that were outside the realm of normal evaluation. You were a leader to me, guiding a group of young minds beyond what was expected. You were an open ear for my curiosity, truly engaged and caring about the many questions I had for you. Lastly you were my inspiration, showing me what the power of knowledge can create and the places to find it in my life. The way you could craft so many young minds. The minds that will soon become the future of the world. You were there in your office working late nights when no one was watching, or so you may have thought. You created a magic I have yet to fully understand and as time went on, I came to believe and appreciate the underlying message you had for me. The time we spent in class you owed to us, and to you I owe my future, as your students live on as a legacy of our past we shared together.
To all the teachers that see past the job and into the young hearts and minds of students full of possibility and potential, I thank you. Inspiring the pliable minds of today for a better tomorrow. Your work may be seem subtle on the surface, but the depths of your passion are not overlooked. I may still groan as I roll out of bed in the morning, but I will never again take for granted the power of education.
