...is to say that you have the distinct honor of being able to really make a difference in the lives of your students, because you are teaching them at a critical time in their lives. I bet that it probably doesn't feel like it most of the time for you, but still, you are planting seeds in their formidable minds, whether you or they are aware of it. Some of those seeds may sprout and grow. Some may not.
I had two teachers during that time in my life (9th grade History & 11th grade English) who planted seeds in my mind that have really made a difference in a very real way in the quality of my experiences throughout my life. Of the two, I can only remember the name of one today, and both of them were nearing retirement when I was in their classes, so it would be futile for me to try to contact them to thank them. But I have thought many times in my mind how much I would like to be able to do that.
I went to school in Orange County California during the 60's, which was about as right wing, red neck, neo-fascist Nazi as you could get ("my country, right or wrong"
. Had it not been for those two teachers, I would have never escaped from behind the Orange Curtain with my mind. In thinking back on it, both of them risked a lot with their expressions of courage in teaching all of their students how to view our planet, along with how to use our minds to think critically. I am sure that not all of the seeds that they planted grew and flourished, but I know for a fact that some of them did. I was not a brilliant student in either of their classes. I was just average. And I am sure that, at the time, if either of them knew what an effect their words would be having on my life, they would have been even more astonished than I
Isn't it funny how that works?.
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