Ripples in a Pond – Students

Greetings Dear Reader,

I suppose that the most obvious place where I create daily ripples is in my teaching.  Social media allows me to follow the journeys of students who have passed through my classroom.  When I see their successes it fills my tank. 

Anyone who has spent time as a teacher knows that once someone is “your” student they are yours forever. They will move on to other things.  They pass through your classroom on the way to some other adventure and each one takes a bit of you with him or her. 

One of the maladies that infect teachers is that they remember the failures far more vividly than the successes.  I do not mean the students who have failed but rather the students we feel we have failed.  Even whilst writing that sentence a few names spring to mind; some of them from decades ago.  There are students that did not receive my best.  Some have forgiven me but a few have not.

I know there are successes too.  I regularly interact with students who have gone on to be great at their chosen professions.  I know I helped a little.  Here, though, I must also wage that constant battle between an honest sense of accomplishment and cancerous pride. 

A third aspect of this is that of the teachers that have labored to teach me.  To some of them I feel a debt I can never truly pay.  Don, Phil, and Clarence, you have instilled things in me that I use daily.  Know that your impact ripples on to others through me.

I do not know how long I can continue to teach.  I love it but it drains me in a way that I cannot seem to completely heal.  I think Bilbo said it best.  I have begun to feel like butter spread over too much bread.  I think it is great wisdom to leave things behind whilst still creating good ripples.

So as I journey through this thinking on ripples I send out a prayer for all those who have students.  I pray for your strength and stamina.  Like you I hope that I have made a difference.   

Wishing you joy in the journey,

Aramis Thorn

Mat 13:52 So Jesus said to them, "That is why every writer who has become a disciple of Christ’s rule of the universe is like a home owner. He liberally hands out new and old things from his great treasure store."