Our Teachers

Even before President Obama said the following in the state of the union address "We know a good teacher can increase the lifetime income of a classroom by over $250,000. A great teacher can offer an escape from poverty to the child who dreams beyond his circumstance", I had expressed similar thoughts on facebook. I had written, "Some of my friends are serving Nigeria. Some will be serving soon. A good number of them will be entrusted with a sacred responsibility. Yes, sacred. It is a sacred responsibility to teach another. Some of them will be happy doing it but some won't be... Have you ever thought about this?' I had continued, "When a teacher comes into the class and starts by saying ' Good Morning Students, I am glad to see you', the students become GLAD to learn."



Today (28th January, 2012 ), I am learning Medical Physics. We are learning an interesting new topic in higher mathematics. The other students are understanding the lesson easily, while for me it is difficult to grasp the basics. I draw the atttention of the teacher to my situation and I ask questions. She answers. We are given a test to write at the end of the class. I end up being the first person to hand in the paper.

The following conversation ensues as I hand in my paper

Me: Spasiva za urok (I say in russian, 'thank you for the lesson')

Teacher: Thank you too.

I squirmed and I asked the teacher. Why would you thank me? She was silent for a while (probably as she formed words from her thoughts).

She said to me, "YOU TRIED HARD TO UNDERSTAND THE LESSON"

I literarily sqiurmed in 'humiliation' by her humility. My teacher was thanking me for learning? How can that be?

For me, it was a 'Nyikke Ekott Happy Moment.'