Teacher Appreciation Week

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I’ve been an educator most of my adult life. Funny, actually, because that’s never what I set out to be. When I was 17, I wanted to be Bob Newhart. Not Bob Newhart, per se, but Bob Newhart as he appeared on his 70s TV show – the one where he was a therapist working with all manner of wacky individuals, co- workers and patients alike. I wanted to help people solve problems. I wanted to go to an office and meet with small groups. I wanted to be a psychologist.

So, I went to college and I studied psychology. Four years later, armed with a bachelor of arts, I discovered what most psychology majors figure out along the way – there’s not a whole lot you can do with a BA in psychology. Undeterred, I decided to stay on at Bucknell and get my masters in education so I could be a school psychologist. I earned a scholarship, and, since four more additional classes wouId earn me the credentials for school counseling along with school psychology, I took those, too.

Fast forward two years. I was ready to graduate, and I had the potential to be a mediocre school psychologist, but an excellent school counselor. The difference? One was drudgery, the other like play.

Don’t get me wrong – good school psychologists don’t consider the job drudgery. But remember, I was mediocre and I’m not being self-effacing. I really was mediocre. The combination of lack of love for the work, lack of experience and perfectionism coupled with one pretty terrible mentor created the perfect storm of I don’t wanna do this.

My school counseling mentors? Wonderful, all of them. I still keep in touch with the fantastic educator (and person) charged with shaping me into an elementary school counselor. Wendy opened the door to a job I'd love for almost three decades and I’m proud to call her my friend.

Along the way, I continued to learn from other educators -- the good and the bad. I worked with an enormous number of the former and very few of the latter and, along the way, I learned what a good teacher looks like. Now, in my second career, I still carry those lessons with me.

I also learned the price that a good teacher pays to be a good teacher. Most of the good teachers I knew didn’t leave their work at school. Even the ones who were the best time managers still worried about their kids when they got home and grading papers was a given. It wasn’t a job that fit the nine-to-five mold and, despite what the schedule looked like on paper, it definitely didn’t include summers off.

Now that I work with a group of PhDs, I sometimes feel a little sad that I didn't keep going after I got my master's but, when I think of all the things I got to do instead, I can't really complain. The writing that is so much a part of my life is also courtesy of a teacher who opened a door and gave me the confidence I needed to walk through it.

I got to take good teachers for granted because my parents valued education and made sure that good teachers were a part of my life. As an adult, I still love learning, and I hope that's something I instill in my students as well.

Now, closing in on my 35th year as an educator, I still smile when I think of that old Bob Newhart show that inspired me. Even better, when I look back on the teachers who inspired me to follow my passions -- writing, theatre, languages, and, most of all, learning I'm grateful for my life as both student and educator. 

Happy Teacher Appreciation Week to learners and teachers everywhere.