I am surrounded by brilliant minds every day, and while many of them are sitting in the desks in front of me, I cannot help, but be in awe of my coworkers. They are amazing. Teachers are a mixed and match collection of degrees including Bachelors, Masters, and PHDs. Most of them are parents. Some of them are coaches. They make jewelry, sell makeup, and some even write to make a little extra money. These wonderful people are here in classrooms making a difference in every child’s life they come across for so much less than what they deserve.

In Dead Poet’s Society, Neal asks Mr. Keating, “How can you stand being here?” and Mr. Keating replies, “Because I love teaching, I don’t want to be anywhere else.” I look around at my incredible colleagues and think similar thoughts. She could be running a company, but here she is teaching economics. He could be working for NASA, yet he is teaching physics. I often wonder if the public realizes how not only brilliant educators really are, but what they could be doing besides education. No one goes into education because they cannot do anything else despite what the media and politicians want you to think. The most caring, educated people in the world are found in our classrooms.

Some have asked us did you give up your dreams. We all have larger than life aspirations when we are young. Some of us wanted to be firemen; others want to be superheroes, and a few of us knew we were made to teach. Did we give up our dreams to paint or land on the moon? For some of us, yes, we did, but there is no greater love than sharing our hobbies and loves with the next generation. Sharing our field with our students ensures that Shakespeare will live on, or Einstein’s theories will continue to be used. We feel so much pride when a student enters the field of science, English, or business because of something we brought into our classroom. It is through these students, our original dreams live on.