I am proud that I make a difference. A difference measured in smiles, actual achievement and changed lives, not cynical stares and hopeless cries. My life would have been a lot poorer if I had not chosen to spend two years as a teacher in a classroom. Ritu, the eleven-year-old bully among a class of six-year-olds refused to listen and stop making fun of everyone, for twelve months in a row. Himanshu, the child who loved to sleep in the class just to irritate me, seldom stopped abusing and hitting other boys, for ten months. Kajal would once show very angry faces even at the slightest disturbance. Today, Ritu raises her hand at every question. She smiles at me every day, all the time, and tries to participate and understand her lessons. Himanshu has started answering questions correctly, and is slowly becoming an achiever. Kajal is one of the most compassionate children of the class, and is the most confident speaker in English. Had I not been a teacher, I would not have met 53 of these with their own stories; each a different puzzle piece in his or her own. I cracked some, some cracked me. Some are yet to be cracked. But, the day they will be cracked, today, a year later, or two years later through a new Fellow, it will be because of a teacher. Happy Teachers Day to all Teach For India Fellows who work full-time every single day, and often even more on holidays when they could easily take off, to change the lives of the children they work with. Happy Teachers Day to our staff that does wonderful work each day passionately, often ignoring their comfort and passionately going beyond just what they are required to do, impacting nearly 30000 kids from low-income families all over India.
Posted on: Fri, 05 Sep 2014 04:50:29 +0000
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