A Career Choice

A Career Choice

Rosie looked at her grandmother’s picture. Her grandmother, Della, had been 24 years old at her graduation. A teacher. She had worked in the school system for many years and was loved by her students and colleagues. Well, not all of them. Her grandmother said that was not true, and wouldn’t even have been possible over so many years. But there was one that had hated her - at least to begin with. His name had been Tomàs. He spoke Spanish and her grandmother didn’t speak a word of Spanish. He walked into school angry and sullen, determined to get kicked out,  expecting to be shunned and bullied. But he was tough. He was trying to be brave. Fights and challenges didn’t scare him. His bravery was just walking into class. A class of white bread kids, rich kids and preppies. He was only there because he had promised his mother that he would get an education. He had been dragging himself into schools over and over, barely passing. No interest in anything.

And then Rosie’s grandmother was his teacher. It was her first year teaching.  The only job she had been able to get was at a school on the border of inner city and the suburbs. Teenagers. Some that came for the social life. Some that came to learn. And then there was Tomàs - and others like him. One look at Tomàs and Della thought she saw a softer side covered in fear and anger. She let him sit at the back of the room, but she challenged him to learn. When she found his natural aptitude for science, his curiosity, his detailed thinking, Della introduced him to science books, the libraries and kept encouraging him. She had loved watching his bristling shell soften. It took a long time, but Tomàs did graduate and went on to live a comfortable life with a family and friends. Always learning, always growing.

Rosie smiled. Yes, she did want to be a teacher, just like her grandmother. She sealed her application to the university. The air was clean and clear. She walked to the post office with a spring in her step.

“I am not a teacher, but an awakener.”

~ Robert Frost