After having taught English as a second language for 20 years (you can guess my age; I started teaching when I was 23 years old), I've come to the conclusion that teaching for a teacher is as going on stage for an actor/actress. In both cases, you get rid of your own personal emotions and play a role. I have many weaknesses but one of my strengths is to have the capacity to keep my personal life away from my teaching life. Throughout my teaching career, some colleagues of mine have asked me if I've never had problems or worries as they've always seen me with a smile and in a good mood in my working place. I can say that many times I've been ready to teach a class after going through difficult situations and nobody has noticed it.
One of the saddest experiences I've had in my life was my mother's death three months ago. Despite the fact I believe that God freed her from the hardships she was facing as part of her disease, I cannot help missing her as there was a closed link between her and me but all my feelings of sadness disappear when I'm delivering a class. It's a moment when I'm transported to another dimension in which my mind becomes totally focused on what's going on in the class.
Teaching English is part of my life and I cannot imagine myself without teaching. I think it's a gift I received when I was born and I studied and practised to improve myself and offer a better service to my students. I'm thankful to God for having realised that was one of my missions in life. All of us have missions and receive gifts at birth but not everybody is able to spot which one is the talent to be developed. This idea is shown in the film "Tinkerbell", in which the fairies are given a talent at birth and they have to improve it for everybody's well-being. I took my nieces to the cinema to watch that film and I really enjoyed it.
I hope you've found out what your talents are and have felt rewarded for having enhanced them and for having used them for your and everybody's sake.
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Hey, very nice blog!
ReplyDeleteI've been teaching English for around 8 years myself, and had a very similar experience to yours. I lost my father about two years ago, and even though I had a 9 day leave, I decided to come back after 5. I couldn't bear to think about what had happened any longer, and the absolute bliss of not thinking about my father all the time while I was in class is something whose importance I will probably never be able to accurately ascertain. I still thank that one group every single occasion I can, that one specific group where I had so much fun, so much interaction, so many experiences, that it was the first thing in my life at that time that helped me start realising that the "All things shall pass" adage actually had some truth to it.
Wonderful to hear I'm not the only one =)
Hello Daniel!
ReplyDeleteSorry I haven't replied to you before!!! I wasn't notified of your comment and as I've started another blog, I haven't returned to this one.
Even if it's late, I wanted to thank you for taking your time to read my post. I'm glad you found it supportive.
Regards,
Marisa
You are a true professional. To perform at a high level when you aren't feeling up to it for personal reasons. Keep up the good work.
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