#3, Confessions of a teacher.

At this time of the year, in the high school where I've taught for some time, lockers are emptied and final exams administered. Yearbooks are signed and there are plenty of goodbyes. Commencements commence and students and teachers alike look forward to a long-awaited respite from school. Yes, the school year has finally ended.

Yet, in spite of the colossal wave of relief surges over me during this time, there is also something about the end of the school term that makes me a bit maudlin, too. I seem to forget all the frustrations and headaches I may have experienced in my endeavor to educate teenagers. Instead, I begin to recall the personal discoveries in the past year. Although I learned them within the confines of a school, these lessons stretch far beyond classroom walls and can be applied to almost every job or interpersonal relationship.

But, it always leads to a lesson on the origin of the word and its connection to the mind. Students are enthralled, and in some ways, acquire more respect for the older generation who speaks “in code”, too. It is at times like these, when I see the little light bulbs illuminate over their heads, I learn to be grateful for having a job, that while often grueling, teaches me more every day, and can be a hell of a lot of fun, too.