The days are long and the payouts can be limited. What makes education the best field to be in? For me that is an easy question. The relationships. Being able to create relationships with students and have a lasting impact on them and their education is by far the greatest reward one can get. The path of a teacher is laid with good intentions and great days in education. I would like to recount for you one of my great days in education. It is 2016 and I have been teaching for a few years at my current school. Midway through the semester, I receive a new student, not atypical in my district. After allowing my students to begin their independent work for the day, I began to strike up a conversation with the new student. She transferred from a different school within the district that was "not a good fit for her and the teachers there just wouldn't listen to her." She claimed that my class was too easy for her after a week or so, much like the classes at her other school. Over the next week I limited her instruction which allowed her to make her own connections to the material and increased the difficulty of her work. Taking into consideration how well she responded to the challenge and what she said, I talked to the Honors teacher and the counselors to see what we could do for her. I was pleased to find out the Honors teacher was willing to find a place for her in his class, provided she scored well on his assessment. I called the student's mother to get permission to give the assessment and to get consent to move the student in the event she scored well, which I knew she would. The mother was delighted to talk to me and raved about how her daughter would come home and tell her all about her math teacher and how great he made her feel. She thanked me for showing a special interest in her daughter. As to be expected, the student did great on the assessment and was moved to the Honors class. We fast forward to May 2018, graduation. I stand at the entrance to the theatre greeting the families of our students on this great day. A hand clapped my shoulder and as I turned to see who wanted my attention, I was engulfed in a mother's warm embrace. It was the mother of the student I had helped out a few years ago. She went on to tell me that the student continued to thrive at school after leaving my class. The way the student would talk about me made the mother feel like she was talking about a favorite uncle. At this moment, the mother and the student gave me another hug and proclaimed that I would forever be a part of their family. This was truly one of the best days in education. It is remarkable the impact you can have on your students and vise versa. You will be happy to hear that the student has decided to continue her academic excellence and go to college. She will be graduating this spring and will be a certified EMT-Paramedic. She plans to use this career path to gain experience and to finance her ultimate dream of becoming a neurosurgeon.
I leave you with the first joke I told her. Never get into an argument about infinity with a mathematician, they can go on forever about it.
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