Moment of Impact

My first two days of teaching are under my belt, and I must say, they went well. Sure, there were some things I wish I'd done differently, but all in all, I met my goals...and that's saying something.

It was hard, though, especially at the start of this week. With all the meetings, exhaustion, and whatnot, there were a lot of doubts and questions racing through my mind. I started praying that I would get through, be able to start strong. Kind of lost the focus of the whole teaching thing. So, there I was the day before parent-teacher conferences, madly scrambling, and there's a knock on my door. No idea who I expected it to be, but in walks one of my students from last year, who's now graduated and is on his way to college in California. We talked for a bit about his plans and my being back; I tried to encourage him because he's a very hard worker and really smart.

And that's the moment when it hit me: I CAN do this...because I've already done it. Standing there in front of me was a kid that I had the chance to influence, someone that another teacher had told me responded better to my teaching style than theirs, and it had mattered. It reminded me that for a string of moments I had impacted him, and now in return, he was impacting me by coming back. I've run into 3 other former students who graduated last year, and it's been even more a blessing than I could've imagined. They've expressed excitement that I'm back at ICS and shared their accomplishments with me. It's like God knew I needed that to push me through these packed first couple of days.

So, yes, I'm wiped out. Yes, I have a lot of work to do. Yes, I still wonder sometimes about the whole teaching avenue. But there's nothing quite like that sense you get when you know you've helped another person, made a difference. And when it comes down to it, I think that's the reason most people teach.