A BIG HONOR This is a huge deal to the No. 19 Middle School / International High School here in Zhengzhou, China. Today at 5 p.m., they will award me the Teacher of the Year award for the 2013-2014 school year. I didnt realize until yesterday how big of a a deal it is to the leaders of the school and the Erqi School District in this vast city of 12.5 million people. As I stated in an earlier post, it is the first time a foreign teacher has been selected. The provincial head of education will be in attendance to basically give his stamp of approval. The media will be there as well to cover the event. Im honestly a bit bewildered and, at the same time, pleasantly surprised to what this means to them. I guess more than anything, to imagine me of all people in such a situation. I was lucky to get out of high school and blessed to have gone on and finished college. Now, here I am at the ripe young age of 55 years old being recognized as an outstanding teacher. Who would have ever thought it? Not sure how all this happened considering my life was completely upside-down when I came here 3 years and 10 days ago. With faith, hope, prayers, love from my family (especially my amazing mother, Gerri Murphy) and a positive attitude, I came here to discover the next chapter of my life. I feel a bit guilty because there are tens of thousands of Chinese teachers (and of course, teachers around the world) who never get recognized for the long hours, dedication and hard work that they do. I see some of the young ones in our office here, fresh out of college and with a gleam of excitement in their eyes knowing that they are realizing their dream of making a difference in their world. My heart goes out to them. Their dreams, hope and aspirations are evident in their faces that I look into every day. Ive given all of them a copy of my book, Powerful Attitudes. Almost everyone accepts it and says, This is for ME? as if they are undeserving. I almost want to cry when I say, Yes. My gift to you. Its my best gift that I can give them. Im praying for them even as I write this. Im most of all grateful to the amazing teachers Ive had in my life. God bless all of them. God bless teachers everywhere who are the unsung heroes of this world and who keep the light of hope and advancement of the future of our world, alive and burning bright.
Posted on: Wed, 03 Sep 2014 18:56:22 +0000