Let's do some math (yes, I really did just write that): A teacher spends roughly 7 hours a day with children for roughly 12 years of their life. The average school year consists of at least 180 instructional days. So a very conservative estimate is that a student from first grade until their senior year will spend 15,000 hours with teachers. Throw in preschool, kindergarden, and 4 undergraduate years and your talking 23,000 hours. And that is for one student. (Yes, I realize that my calculations do not account for sick/snow/substitute days or for a changing schedule with changing teachers). The only other person who puts in those kinds of hours are the parents. Teachers are, without question, one of the most impacting people on a child's life. In fact, I would be willing to bet a tidy little sum that almost anyone in a given room could name a teacher who played an influential role in their life, negative or positive.
I have probably been blessed – I have had some pretty amazing teachers, teachers who have counseled, coached, guided, and advised me. So here is a shout out to my Rockstar English teacher, my Spanish teacher, my Spanish friend, my coach, my history teacher, my history-teacher-turned-counselor, my counselors, my math teachers, and the English teacher who first suggested a career in teaching. Thank you. Thanks to all of you. For the countless hours and endless encouragement.
What I've learned under their influence:
1. Acceptance. Acceptance of others and acceptance of myself. We are all different. Our stories, hobbies, struggles, talents, feelings, and opinions are all uniquely our own. No one can claim to be just like us. Sometimes that fact makes relating to others difficult but it is a truly beautiful thing. Sometimes, we can't walk a mile in someone else's shoes but that doesn't change the fact that the person filling those shoes is our fellow human being. They are who they are. We have to learn to celebrate that fact because we all need to be celebrated. This brings me to my second point – we ought to celebrate ourselves too. I know high school is theoretically a self discovery process, but I think we are constantly discovering ourselves, it is a lifetime adventure. In high school though, there is this under-rooted shame in who we are. What if we were wonderfully and beautifully crafted? Can you just imagine this? Young girls look in the mirror and they smile an ear to ear smile because they think "I am beautiful. I am perfect. I don't need to change my hair or clothes or smile or makeup or weight. I am perfect because I am me." Yet, if we say that there actually is something we like about ourselves, we're made to feel guilty for being "vain." Goodness, who knew that such a self-centered society could be so humble? Let's redefine what it means to be vain, let's redefine what it means to be humble, but most of all, let's start embracing who we are. Let's learn to accept who we are flaws and all, because only after we have learned to accept ourselves will we learn how to accept others.
2. Grace. Give it abundantly and receive it abundantly too. Fact of life 101: kids mess up. They are kids. In fact, messing up is actually a vital part of the whole growing up process. Kids are constantly making mistakes and learning from them. High schoolers are no different (okay maybe the whole constant learning thing is a bit of a stretch...). Human beings are no different. But somewhere in that awkward transition from childhood to adult hood we stop seeing mistakes for what they are: lessons. We are ashamed of our imperfections, our complete inability to "get it right" and in that shame, we hide. (Think of Adam and Eve after eating the fruit, when God calls for them, they hide). If we don't possess the ability to forgive ourselves and others freely, without belittling or guilting, we limit God's ability to teach us. When we belittle or guilt ride ourselves, we hide, we close our ears and wish upon a shooting star that our mistake will slip quietly beneath the rug. We're the little kid in the grocery store with our hands in our ears screaming at the top of our lungs "LA LA LA LA LA LA" because we are so afraid of what God and others will have to say. But when we receive grace, when we accept that we made a mistake and that there is something yet to be learned, then we become receptive to the lessons that error has to teach us.
I could go on for ages on the many things my teachers have taught me but here it is in one cliche statement:
You cannot live a bold life without tolerance, love and grace.
p.s. more on grace later.
No comments:
Post a Comment