Teachers are more than just ‘tools’ in the system

Attending a class that you paid for sometimes seems like a pain when you feel like you don’t have time for it or just don’t want to go. In some, when a teacher says that if you don’t attend class, your grade goes down. Does that make them the bad guy? Probably not. I don’t think they say those things because they don’t care about you – it’s probably because they do, and you just may not realize it.

Teachers may be one of the most empathetic people on earth. When thinking about how they may possibly ‘ruin’ your life by giving you homework, they’re actually giving you knowledge. They are the people who chose to go to school for six years to study how to be the ones to control the information being put into your brain.

Some students forget that teachers have been in our exact positions and have also ‘suffered’ at the hands of their instructors. I’ve seen, heard, and felt the effect that teachers had on their students and honestly, some students brush it off and don’t think twice about their instructor’s kindness.

When I graduated high school last year, there were a couple of teachers known to pass students who were close to failing their class – although, even if the students told others that the class was easy, it usually wouldn’t be. The main reason why students would eventually pass their class was because they actually got it across that they were having a hard time and needed to ‘get themselves together.’

There was a teacher I talked to every day during my senior year, because I was his TA (teacher assistant) one day and his student the next. Talking to him on a regular basis, I realized that many teachers have a life that’s more adventurous than mine had been – especially since he was a bouncer in a club during his own college time and occasionally talked about it during class. The experiences that he had, the friends he told me about and even past students that visited their class from time to time – it made me see that these just weren’t teachers who forgot their students, once they graduated.

The moment when I realized that teachers weren’t just ‘tools’ to a school district affected me so much, that I began to help and talk to them when I wasn’t in class. They go through things and have gone through troubled times – just like students. Instructors most likely don’t tell their students about their personal lives, in order to follow the rules and keep the relationship strictly professional.

The difference between a high school environment and college, is that high school teachers refrain from cursing around students, in order to not suggest ‘vulgar language’. In terms of college, I’ve run into teachers that swear up and down the hall, as well as not caring about what the students think about their lanuage. From time to time, teachers do admit they curse, but only when they feel it’s appropriate.

At times, I find it weird that they have lives, because they talk about their children or siblings and it makes students think twice. In high school, there were students that found out the odd quirks about their teachers and had the greatest reactions – the students started talking to the teacher as if they were their friend and then spent their lunch hour with them, discussing their greatest aspirations.

In the aspect of schoolwork and turning things in, it’s important to communicate with these people, because they can’t read your minds. You have to tell them if something’s wrong or affecting your life so much, that you can’t do your work.

It’s weird, because while growing up, I didn’t think I’d ever want to trust a teacher or anyone, for that matter – they truly make a difference.