It's all about passion. . .

I am a teacher. Not that I chose to be one. I would say that the teaching profession pointed its finger at me and before I knew it I became one. My dream and the work that I did while I was in college was to become a social worker. With the enthusiasm and high aspirations of youth, I wanted to work for the needy, the disadvantaged, the troubled. . . Only that's not the way it worked out.

I had a date with a good friend for lunch and she asked that we meet at the high school where we had both graduated. She had already been teaching there for a year and the meeting she had to attend before we could go and do our thing was to go over policies and get new assignments for the new schoolyear. I got there early and when the Principal saw me, she asked me to join the group of teachers who were already gathered there. "It's better than waiting out here in the hall," she said, "and besides, you know many of them." So I followed her in. I did know many of those who were there; one or two had been classmates, several of those there were my teachers in high school. Still, feeling like the only outsider, I sat quietly in the back of the room.

When it came for the teaching assignments to be distributed, I suddenly got the surprise of my life. The Principal called my name and introduced me as the new teacher on the block, and then she added: "This is the first she knows of it. I still need someone to teach Literature to the third year students, and I have just found the person I need." I was flabbergasted! But I didn't protest. I loved Literature. . .and I still do. Besides, everyone who knew me seemed to be happy that I would be joining them.

Later on, I talked to the Principal and told her that I wasn't ready to teach, I never learned how to teach, I wouldn't know where to start and was about to come up with more excuses when she interrupted me and asked: "Do you still have that passion for Literature that you used to have?" I had to admit that I never lost it. "Then you'll be fine," she assured me.

And that's how I became a teacher. Throughout the years I learned all about teaching and learning. I had my ups and downs when I had to learn how to make a lesson plan, learn about methodology, prepare my lessons with care and what has always been my cross--correct papers endlessly. I learned from my colleagues, yes, even my Principal stepped in to assist and I continued to read and learn. But mostly, I learned from my students, and I did my best for them, and when they responded by doing their best, I felt I had to do even more. I learned that when I taught them with passion, they too learned with passion. And it is that symbiosis that has kept me going to this day.

That was many, many years ago. And still, I continue to teach. Although I might no longer move around the room as quickly as I did when I was younger, the voice is still there and when I teach my little ones, we can still sing our songs and do our dances together to the right beat. The passion remains and so I keep on going.