You May Never Know

When a surgeon does his job well, he knows because the patient recovers.  He can see the results right away.  When an airline pilot does his job well, he knows because the plane lands smoothly and all passengers exit in one piece.  He can see the result right away.  When a farmer does his job well, the results take a bit longer, but they can see it happening when the plants grow, flower, fruit, and are eventually harvested.  There are a few professions in which the result of the work is slow, so slow that those who practice it may never see the evidence of their impact.  I'm sure there are many professions in which this is true, but the ones I am now thinking of are preachers and teachers.  

Twenty years ago, I taught a student with a massive anger management problem.  When he got angry, he started gearing up for a fight by dropping his backpack and pawing his foot on the ground like a bull.  As I recognized these signs, I would put two fingers on each of his shoulders and gently push him out the door to count to ten or a hundred or whatever it took.  I would tell him to go to the bathroom and wash his face and come back when he was calm.  This scenario happened several times a week for the entire year, and I didn't imagine I had made much difference as he left my class still angry.  Five years later, I happened to be in a restaurant when I ran into the boy (by then, a 20-year-old man).  He hugged me excitedly and introduced me to his friend as "the teacher who put up with all my crap."  I don't know what he is now doing in his life, but I hope that he is less angry as an adult (now 35) than he was in high school.

I have posted my favorite TED talk on the blog before.  Its official title is Everyday Leadership, but I have always referred to it as Lolipop Moments because it is the story that drives the point.  A man working in a school has a massive impact on a young woman's life; she eventually invites him to her wedding because of the meaningful experience he gave her on her first day of college.  Yet, he doesn't remember this event.  He makes the point that in living your daily life, you may have had influence you don't know you had.  We should all live our lives in a way that people will remember positively.  We all have these opportunities in our lives, but teachers have them every day.  Wink at the quiet kid, roll with the silly joke, say yes to the project that doesn't quite fit your expectations.  

I once taught a boy named Sam.  He graduated 10 years ago.  I happen to be Facebook friends with his mom, so when she posted a link to his pottery business, I went to his website and made a purchase. When the package arrived, there was a handwritten note on the invoice, thanking me for being his science teacher.  It said, "My love of glaze chemistry comes from your class."  I never taught him about glaze chemistry.  I know a little about it but not enough to teach it in my class.  He had been a scienc-y kid long before I got to him, but I was able to keep his love of chemistry alive.  He also had art teachers who inspired him along the way.  Now, he makes his living with a combination of art and science knowledge and skill.  I might never have known this.

How many students have you influenced in your career?  You might think only a handful because those are the ones you know about.  It's probably a lot more; there may be an adult out there right now who is telling their kids about you and something they learned in your class.  

You may never know.