420

That's a pretty big number when you consider that I'm talking about people. 420 people. I got to thinking about my impact as a teacher and I realized that in three short years, I have had the privilege, sometimes burden, of educating 420 youngsters.

That's crazy! If I do this for even three more years, that number will climb to nearly 1000.

I used to have this opinion of teaching as sort of a 'last resort' profession. In my mind, I reserved it for people who weren't smart enough to do anything else. Talk about a wake up call. I was SOOOOOO wrong. Teaching requires quick thinking, creativity, strength, determination, resourcefulness, comprehensive knowledge, the ability to find common factors between topics, and a genuine enthusiasm for learning.

The job is taxing physically, mentally, emotionally, socially, and every other kind of -ally there might possib-ally be. But, the reward, or even the glimmer of hope of a reward, is definitely worth the cost. So, to all you teacher folks out there, thank you for the job you have done and continue to do every day. Thanks for shaping my life and the lives of many many more.

In the words of a trusted colleague, 'just enjoy your kids'. For, they deserve our best.


---Interesting side note, I thought it would be really cute to post a picture of the number 420 at the top of this post, but have just discovered a link between that number and dedicated pot smokers, I must investigate. So, I'll leave you with this picture instead.---