The Educators

People ask me what I want to be when I “grow up”

And I’ve known for many years

They seem to think that’s impressive,

For my age. 16.

Sixteen years in a household

Surrounded with the art of teaching.

My mother, my aunts, my cousins and more

Have taken up the art.

Most people look at me with that smile..

That smile of pity and confusion

“But, you’re smart”

They say

So, you’re saying teachers aren’t smart?

Teachers

They hold your hand through grade school

And mold your middle school self.

They prepare you for college

And beyond.

But they aren’t smart.

They aren’t part of a respectable profession

In your eyes.

What IS a respectable profession?

A doctor?

Who learns to save lives from a teacher?

Maybe a lawyer,

Who learns the art of arguing and research

From a professor.

Oh I know, an engineer

Who learns the fundamental math equations

From a high school math teacher.

These are professions

You respect.

But a teacher?

A teacher doesn’t “make enough”

Or maybe they took the “easy way out”

And it isn’t a real profession.

And they should cater to the ideas of parents

On how to pass their kids.

Don’t fail my kid

But don’t fail to teach them.

The thing you don’t understand

Is that a teacher not ONLY

Teaches

Your child the fundamentals of

Math

English

Science

But also the fundaments of

How to be a friend

And work with others

And succeed in the world.

They teach the ABCs

And 123s

The basics of EVERY

Job

Career

And action in your life.

But they aren’t worth my intelligence.

Right?

I could be curing cancer

Or performing brain surgery.

Not teaching students.

That is a waste of my potential

What about the potential to bring out the next Einstein?

The potential to inspire the next Shakespeare?

To show a student that they

Are worth it?

I have potential

To do everything that you

As a parent now or to be

Fail to do.

Teachers are the backbone of our society

And they are undiscovered

Unappreciated

Overworked

And under-gratified.

You may not see it,

But I

As a future mother

Want the best and brightest minds

Teaching my child

How to succeed

How to be great.

The most influential role models

In our lives

Are those who teach us

How to be the best we can be.

They are teachers.

And I,

Dear friend,

Want nothing more than to be

The difference

The influence

And the inspiration

Of the next generations to come.

They need a guide

A guide that pushes them

Believes in them

Wants to be there with them.

I will not back down

And I will not give up.

My dream may seem unimportant

To you and your small mind

But for me?

To me it is the future.

I will change lives

I will make a difference

I will inspire children and young adults.

What will you do?