What makes it worthwhile...

I recently had an old friend comment on a Facebook status update of mine. On a particularly frustrating day, I was complaining about my students, and my friend suggested that I might hate my job.

Now I love my friend, but nothing--nothing--could be further from the truth.

In this instuctor's humble opinion, teaching is a blessing compared to being in the corporate world. Believe me...I know. I've been there. Although, in my case, my brief foray into Corpo was on the fringes, to say the least, as I worked for a particularly liberal advertising agency. But seeing what my husband goes through, I thank whatever gods exists that I lucked into this job.

It's the unfortunate truth that the so-called "problem children" make for the better stories. As I told a close friend of mine just this afternoon, if I were to fill this blog with the "I had a great day" stories, it would make for a great substitute for Unisom or Ambien. But as they say media circles, if it bleeds, it leads. The horrible is inevitably more entertaining than the mundane. But in the spirit of sharing, and to put my very good friend's mind at ease, I do have good days. I actually have more good days than bad.

Sometimes good days come when I hear from former students, just wanting to say thanks. I got a few emails to that effect last week. Other times, it when students simply share their stories. But mostly its when I look out into the room and see people just getting it. It's hard to describe, but as any good teacher will tell you, to be able to see the look on a student's face when they get it...whatever it may be...is truly a sight to see, and it makes all the crap worthwhile.

So no matter what horror story I tell, I always have one thought in the back of my mind: I am lucky to do what I do. And for me, a bad day in the classroom is better than a good day in a cubical.

Will I continue to complain? I wouldn't bet against it. But am I happy with my job, despite those complaints?

Well.

I wouldn't bet against that either.