Familiar Faces

When I went in to my bank for an appointment this afternoon, a young woman who worked there came rushing out of her office (where she was meeting with other people) to warmly welcome me and tell me how great it was to see me. I was a few minutes early (of course) and started to tell her so, but she already knew. I was a bit disconcerted; while I appreciate being welcomed so warmly to my bank, something else seemed to be going on. I recognized her name, though, and remembered that she had been my student many years ago. She is Portuguese and I think I was caught off guard by the fact that she had stayed in Jacksonville. Also, for some reason the females I teach are harder for me to recognize, generally speaking, than the males when I see them years later. While she had been barely older than a teenager when I had last seen her, she is now a lovely young women with at least one child of her own.

My meeting was actually with someone else at the bank, but when she finished with her other clients she insisted I come in to talk with her for a few minutes. It wasn't just chit-chat. We did some preliminary work on my real banking business. I was glad to see her, and I know she was glad to see me. She spoke so fondly of her time in my class, and when I told her I had gotten away from teaching for a few years but had gone back, she said it had always been obvious how much I loved the work and the subject. She also told me she had learned a great deal in my class(es) and I had helped her so much, especially because English is not her first language.

There are many minor irritants related to teaching, but I will always feel that I am meant for that job. I like having a few other jobs too, but teaching is my calling and my life's work. Any kind of job has at least a few inherent problems -- and some administrators can't seem to resist exacerbating those problems or inserting new ones -- and I know how fortunate I am to have fallen into teaching when I was pursuing a different job that could never have been as fulfilling as this one. My former student and I parted ways with a light hug and a promise to keep in touch. This young lady's regard and appreciation for me and my work, and my happiness at seeing her as a successful business woman, made this a stand-out day.