Learning in Someone Else's Shoes
By: Lucas MacArthur
It is amazing how a day can start like every other day, but end up changing your life forever. For me, it was a day's experience that led me to where I am today. The life that I had been living was beginning to become normal, because of how long I had been doing it. I had always planned on going back to school, but it was not until this day that I was awakened to how important school really is.
For four years after high school I had been working in a tire shop, and shop life began to become who I was. Everything was all routine, I would wake up, go to work, then go out with friends. After countless methodical times, the idea of going back to school seemed to far away. Finally, when the thought of returning to my studies was nearly a speck in the distance, I found myself looking at an older co-worker and getting a well needed self realization.
He was in his thirties, and had been working at the same shop for years. He did not earn much more than me and was rarely considered for promotions. Many times, while talking to him, he would complain about how long it has been since his last raise. From what I aready knew of him, he had a wife and five children. three of his kids lived with him and his wife in their cat ridden three bedroom apartment. He lived paycheck to paycheck, and sometimes could barely afford to feed himself.
While I was standing there talking to this man, Thoughts began to flood my mind. Was this really the life that I wanted for myself? I knew at that moment I needed to quit stalling and go back to school, because if I did not I too could be that thirty year old man that could barely stand on his own.
The lesson that I learned that day was the most important lesson that I had ever received. Sometimes you may think that a path is right for you, but if you do not look ahead, it may take you to a place that you do not want to go. Education is the key. It opens up an entire world for you, and without it you are just stuck behind a bunch of locked doors.
Taking this life lesson and moving it into the classroom will be easy, because it is a lesson that made me want to become a teacher. My class will be a place that not only will kids learn from, but they can take with them for the rest of their life. It is the most important thing to me that every child that has not yet had the privelage of being in my class takes that message home with them. It is my responsibility to ensure that every one of my students wants to be in school, and knows the importance of a continuing education.
