In my life...my scholastic, academic life...I have had many teachers. I have fond memories of grammar school, middle school, high school and college mostly because of the teachers who were slotted to teach at each grade level, respectively. Separating these memories into the "My Best Memories" category are time intervals where most of the educators I had became forgettable.
I know that in life there are many terrible things. Countless resources are at our disposal today to show us just how hateful, violent and apathetic our world can be. These negative, external factors do not sway my optimistic view of our world...I believe that finding the good in all things takes work, and that the work worth doing is worth doing well!
Internally...inside my own personal view on things...I can tell you that one of the worst things that can happen to a person is to become forgettable. In our lives we all interact with various individuals on a daily basis. Cashiers, clerks, bank tellers, saying Hello to a stranger on the street...and unless these brief encounters yield some profound event, we allow these interactions to move out of our memory. These people are not the forgettable types I referred to earlier...they are simply the many lights along our own pathways...a collective unit of souls that consistently remind us that we are not alone.
Let's play-act a moment. Now...imagine spending a good deal of time with someone. Envision spending time with someone for a nine month period. Could be an hour-a-day of your life, or eight hours-a-day! Fast forward a few years...someone comes along and asks...Hey, do you remember Mr. So-and-so? OR Hey, remember Mrs. Whoever's class? If your response is either...Oh my God...I forgot all about her, OR Who? Wait, let me think. Chances are good that you had interacted with a forgettable person. Someone in your life who didn't earn being remembered. An individual who served only as a place holder in time.
Last week my school hosted its annual Open House...A time at the beginning of the year when parents come and meet the teachers who will be educating their children. I was so surprised when a past student entered my classroom along with the parents of my students for this year (This past student is a relative of one of my students this year). She is now in her early 20's, out in the world and working at a job that suits her...she works, and interacts with people (She was always loving, compassionate and gifted). After the Open House she and I talked endlessly about the memories we both had about her fifth-grade year. It was amazing! I have never felt more honored. Honored that she held within her so many memories about a nine-month time frame ten years previous, and especially honored that she remembered old Mr. Mac...she remembered me, her teacher!
Needless to say...this encounter made my week, and since then other students from the past have Facebooked me...to say hello, and that they remember too.
This also got me to thinking of the people who were most memorable to me. The educators who...for whatever reason...made an impact on my life. The teachers who DID make a difference, and who inspired me...the ones who made ME want to move mountains. Honestly...there are not many.
This also got me to thinking about the many teachers I had that were just...well...just kind of there. This endeavor forced me to open locked doors in my memory...doors locked like those on a storage bin of useless things. Sure enough...there they were...the forgettables.
Recalling these forgettables gave me a melancholy feeling. Not for myself...but for them. How mundane an existence... to move through life without touching anyone. To reach the winter of discontent, unimportantly.
I have always known why I chose to teach. Admittedly...I didn't always know, but when it came it was genuine. Planting a seed in a young mind, and nurturing that seed...this is one reason. Guiding towards new paths, shedding light on dark patches...another reason. Broadening young minds, and opening new expansive horizons...yet another. I realize now that all of this boils down to my students, and what they each take with them when June comes around. To be remembered is perhaps the greatest gift anyone of us can ever receive (ANYONE...not just teachers!). Something we've done, or said...this is liken to planting a seed. That Something being remembered means that the seed had taken root!
As I get older I realize I that am teetering more towards the winter of my own life. Wherever I have been, my fondest wish is that I left some mark...some totem that I was there. When the time comes that I am on the underside of daisy roots...I don't want to be forgotten ten minutes after the funeral!
For educators...we have the greatest opportunity to touch the lives of so many people. We are charged with not only educating, but also with changing lives. Creating memories takes work, but it is work worth doing well!
