Some people have a profound impact on our lives, while remaining utterly unaware.
In my life, one such person was a certain Miss Earl – a high school teacher. The impact she had on me was twofold, firstly physical, second, fanning the flames of another passion entirely – my love of English as a medium for abstract expression.
I’m likely looking at the past through rose tinted spectacles, but I recall having a monumental crush on a gorgeous, hawk nosed young lady and doing the only thing I could to make a positive impression on her – putting substantially more effort into English than I did most subjects. I doubt she ever noticed me amongst the pack of uniformed youths traversing her class, namely English Literature. A litany of boys who grew, before her aging eyes, into young men.
Teachers have a chance at immortality in the hearts of the young people they help shape. Fill your time with students with passion, and be remembered forever. Fill it with rote lessons and be forgotten, cast out of consideration, and without a second thought.
To all the former, Miss Earl standing high amongst them, thank you!
To the latter… I’ve forgotten you, and care not conjure memories of indifference.
