It’s September 1st.
It’s that time again. You’ve double-checked your supplies, your outfit, your class schedule. You take deep breaths, but you still feel some anxiety pressing in that keeps sleep far behind a high fence that you can’t seem to reach.
And I’m not even talking about how your students are feeling. This is you. The elementary, high school, even college teachers/professors who must once again return to the classroom for another year. This is you.
But what I am about to say is for you.
I loved school. It was the only thing that I was truly good at. I liked obediently reading and working on homework assignments. I liked the relationships I forged with teachers who saw that I truly liked to learn. I loved filling my head with new things and applying them to new scenarios.
So, thank you, teachers/professors. Thank you for spending a little more time each night creating your lesson plans and perfecting them. Thank you for getting up early to be in the classroom before homeroom. Thank you for pushing back and caring when you did not think that you could give another drop of yourself. Thank you for going beyond the roles of teacher/professor and delving into the realms of friend, parent, disciplinarian, role model, but most of all, supporter of dreams. No one asks you to do what you do or to make it stand up to your personal standards. Worst of all, you are rarely thanked besides a week where you can get a few dollars off what you need to buy for your classroom.
And truly, my thanks cannot be enough. But I hope you keep going. In the face of angry parents. In the face of misunderstood students. In the face of adversity.
I hope you remember that you are appreciated and loved. Have a great year. You’re going to be terrific.
Bailey Dailey 