The Right Place at the Right Time

Wouldn't it be great if we would be the one-millionth customer at a grocery store and win a $500 shopping spree?  I guess you would need to be at the right place at the right time, right?  Probably.  What about being at a particular location, interacting with a certain person, and somehow influencing his immediate or distant future?

I believe that we are placed in situations that sometimes seem difficult, possibly mundane, or seemingly pointless, yet there is a purpose for us being there.  Being an educator (teacher, administrator, support staff, or other school personnel) is one of the most rewarding professions on the planet, yet at times it is easy to give in, give up, or just float along.  I remember asking myself on several difficult occasions throughout my career, “Why am I here?”  We are here, of course, for all of our wonderful students we teach every day.  Without fail, we provide lessons, guidance, mentoring, and modeling for those shining (and even the not-so-shining) faces.  Even when circumstances seem bleak or overwhelming, there is a purpose for our educational existence. 

Very early in my teaching career, I had the wonderful opportunity to be the band director for a small school district in northern Indiana.  I was responsible for grades 5-12 instrumental music, so I knew practically every student in the entire district, as most were in my class at one point or another.  I had one student who was a bit more difficult than others, and sometimes he made the class (and me) so tense, it would have been easy to simply kick him out of the program.  I persisted, and so did his peers, in making him a contributing member of the class.  He left our school after eighth grade to go to a different high school and I lost track of him.  In 2009, about nine years after he graduated, I received several Facebook friend requests from him, but I declined his invitation several times.  Because of his persistence, I finally accepted his request.  I then received the following personal message from him:

It took me a good long while to realize how important you were in molding me into the man I have become. I was just so hard-headed back then, when all you were trying to do was help no matter how much resistance I put up. I still remember the time you had me and Craig perform the National Anthem for the football game, which was something I would have never done without your championing. It is one of the proudest moments of my life. Thank you for being there for me when it would've been easier not to.

It was one of those moments that made me realize exactly why I love my profession as much as I do.  I responded to him immediately (after wiping the tears from my eyes):

You know, people don't go into teaching for the high salaries or the stellar social status. Teaching is difficult at times, but it is very rewarding to hear that former students have turned out to be wonderful, productive adults. I don't hold any grudges with any students (how can I do that--they are only adolescents and teenagers--they have enough issues that they try to work through every day). Each and every student has affected me in some way to improve not only my teaching, but also who I am as a person. I am proud of all of my students, even those that didn't always accept my teaching methods at the time.

I believe that I was put in this particular school at this particular time for this particular student (and many others).  You never know who you will affect in exactly what way.  The person that will cure cancer may be sitting in your English class right now.  Continue to inspire, lead, mold, and mentor every student in every class.  Educators are always “at the right place at the right time.”