Thank God for Mentors
In two weeks, I’ll have my second year of teaching under my belt. It’s a fulfilling job, one I took too long getting around to. But one I’m certainly better at because of my detours.
Some of that’s due to the jobs, but it’s mostly due to the people I worked with. I was lucky to have a lot of supervisors and bosses that wanted me to do my best for them, sure, but also be all that I could in the long run.
In different places I’ve been encouraged to finish undergrad and chase a prestigious Master’s degree, apply for a competitive internship, go to law school, use my experience to become a consultant, hone my writing skills, go back and right the course on becoming a teacher. Only one of those things even remotely served the boss’s interest.
And that’s the big difference between a mentor and a plain ol’ boss. A mentor wants to see you reach your potential, show you how if they can, because they know it’s how you get better. It’s not their job, it might go against their interest, but it’s what they do.
We’re better for having those people in our lives. Even if we lose contact or have a falling out. And when the world loses one of those people, we’re reminded of that.
Teacher Appreciation Week is cool. But it’s jumped the shark. It’s clouded by end-of-the-year exhaustion, online trolls reminding us we’re just doing our jobs, and teachers needling about the definitions of appreciation and applause. I think we should give it some new life by acknowledging all of our teachers—including those we encounter outside of a formal education.