I AM JUST, WHO I AM!

A teacher is a friend, a role model, instructor, facilitator, a guide, and an evaluator. Is a teacher a Superhuman God or Goddess with many hands? I believe I cannot place so many nouns, before this simple, common noun- teacher. Then, who is a teacher?

This thought leads me to reflect on the path I’ve traversed thus far… hundreds of children whom I’ve taught, faces and names of few, whom I still remember. When I look back, all that remains is only pure joy and gratitude to God for bringing these souls into my life. And all that I have is the burning desire to give more! To do more! To help more!

After all these of years of being a teacher, I have come to realize that it is not the prepared lesson plans, rules, facts, and information that the students take away with them,  at the end of the day; but unconsciously, it is ‘me’ that they take home with them, every single day. Just my Natural Self and the Spark within me that I carry is what they carry home.

Somewhere, along the way, through the years, a teacher will always reflect a little part of the student, in the words the student chooses, in the thoughts and expressions they communicate, and in the relationships they build and hold together.  We do see that nowadays, don’t we? The Instagram memes, the canteen conversations, the staff-room conversations, the classroom conversations, the school bathroom walls and of course, those often unrecognized silent conversations. We are there inside of everything, we are the subject, and only if we realize…it is we who always hold the trigger, the thoughts for those conversations.

So, who is a teacher?

A teacher is someone who says, ‘I AM JUST, WHO I AM!’ It is the ‘WHO’ that really matters! Let the degrees, experience, and training fade away into oblivion. A teacher is someone who brings himself/ herself as he or she is and gives it to the student. A teacher is not someone who is trained at a college to obtain a degree. A teacher is born and ordained by God. A teacher brings his/her exuberance for life and his/ her love for the subject and plants it inside the heart of the student. Inside the walls of the classroom, the teacher and the student, both of them learn together, learn from each other. At times they might fall down, but together-the student and the teacher is always meant to Rise and Sparkle. The teacher leads the way. This sparkle has a long-lasting trail.

Childhood is that beautiful time, when the impressionable clay that we were, full of curiosity, we learnt by imitation. I thank God for my parents, my very first teachers who taught me that real joy is found in the simple things of life. My heart is filled with gratitude when I think of my alma mater, Holy Cross A.I. Higher Secondary School, Thoothukudi. Rev. Sr. Colleen Netto- My Headmistress, who has a loving, kind heart, behind her strict demeanor. Her principle, “Only English inside the school campuses!” helped us to learn the language perfectly. My maternal aunt who was also my Headmistress at Holy Cross Convent: Late. Rev. Sr.Rosemond. I admired her impeccable organizational skills and creativity. She taught me that leader is a servant, who leads from the front.

Ms.Romila Roche, my tenth grade biology teacher, who brought her love for the subject to the classroom every day. So much so, the diagram of the human heart that she taught to draw easily is still imprint in my mind. My twin daughters were astonished when I taught them the same, when they were in their tenth grade.  The difference was, she made it easy, than the diagram in the text book. I could never forget her and the heart diagram afterwards.

Aren’t teachers, like the two minute Maggie Noodles, making life easy? Drawing Ganesha, on a Benzene Diagram, or making up acronyms to remember rules and definitions, bringing in oodles of creativity, humor and their unassuming self- Teachers are here to make it easier for the student.

The rock, the wildflower on the pathway, the change of seasons, the shades of sunlight on the leaves, the lonely street dog, the face of a child, the still ocean, the lyrics of a song…everyone and everything is a teacher.

However, Humans as they are, with their imperfections, and mistakes, a teacher is someone, who brings his/ her natural self of exuberance for life and learning, when he or she stands in front of the students. A teacher is someone who says, ‘I AM JUST, WHO I AM!’