I wonder if the Buddha had days like this.
The road of service is never an easy one. If we're going to be completely honest, my current job as a high-school teacher is essentially done on a volunteer basis. The paycheck doesn't justify my level of intelligence or education, nor will it pay for any higher degrees I choose to seek.
Not that I do this for the paycheck. I love being in a classroom, and I love working where I know I'm doing some good in the world. However, there are days when trying to keep the spark of knowledge alive in the midst of the broken-down bureaucracy of the U.S. public education system seems utterly futile. There are days when I wonder why I even bother. I wonder why I don't give up and go work for some corporation where I'll be richly compensated for my ability to teach adults (who know how to behave and have at least something of a work ethic) how to do things. No other profession in the world demands so much of its members and gives back so little in return.
Yet, in four and a half months, I KNOW I have made a difference in the lives of my students. Is this difference measurable on a standardized test? Nope. But is it there? Absolutely. That's why I stay, in spite of the frustration, the lousy pay, and constantly having to prove, again and again, that I'm a professional and a good teacher to a barrage of politicians, administrators, parents, and anyone else who ever sat in a classroom and feels they could do my job much better than I.
Not that I do this for the paycheck. I love being in a classroom, and I love working where I know I'm doing some good in the world. However, there are days when trying to keep the spark of knowledge alive in the midst of the broken-down bureaucracy of the U.S. public education system seems utterly futile. There are days when I wonder why I even bother. I wonder why I don't give up and go work for some corporation where I'll be richly compensated for my ability to teach adults (who know how to behave and have at least something of a work ethic) how to do things. No other profession in the world demands so much of its members and gives back so little in return.
Yet, in four and a half months, I KNOW I have made a difference in the lives of my students. Is this difference measurable on a standardized test? Nope. But is it there? Absolutely. That's why I stay, in spite of the frustration, the lousy pay, and constantly having to prove, again and again, that I'm a professional and a good teacher to a barrage of politicians, administrators, parents, and anyone else who ever sat in a classroom and feels they could do my job much better than I.