A necessary introduction
Of all the topics proposed by @galenkp for this week, there were several in which I wanted to participate, but this is the one chosen because of what education has represented in my life.
Teacher by mistake and educator by vocation
I already said I didn't want to be a teacher, but, when the time came, my mother told me I had to work to help support the family and I started working as a builder's helper. When the sun was beating down on me and I had to do work I was not used to, I seriously thought about continuing in that job.
When I saw my mother to tell her that I could not work in construction, she told me that what I could get was a teaching position, but that I had told her that I did not want that for my life. I don't remember my exact words, I only know that from that moment on I began my journey through classrooms, textbooks, students, parents, and professional friends.
The first years
The early years were very hard for me and I have many people to thank for all the help and teaching I received. It is true that you never become a perfect teacher and that you always have to study, but, as the years went by I learned to deal with content and students and I gained the affection and respect of my co-workers and most importantly, of my students.
7 reasons that demonstrate that this has been my best profession
For the possibilities it has given me to contribute to the education of thousands of students.
For having trained many young people as graduates in Education because, within my responsibilities in Education, I was the director of a university branch.
It allowed me to participate in different national and international scientific events.
I was able to represent the country in international work agreements.
For the trust placed in me by my parents, to the point that I became part of the lives of many students' families.
For the affection that my students gave me. Today, after so many years of teaching many of them, I find them out there as professionals, with children and married, and many of them still call me father.
Because of the constant learning. You think you teach more than you learn and I can assure you that my students taught me much more than I was able to give them.
A final comment
I did not choose this profession by vocation, on the contrary, it chose me as a last resort to start my working life. What started as an obligation ended up being a necessity.
Thirty years of my life I dedicated to teaching and school management. Many questions, battles, obstacles and ingratitude, but, it has been the best decision I have made in my life because education saved my life and made me a better human being.
Many asked me why I didn't leave for better paying jobs and my answer yesterday, today and always is the same: contributing to the formation, growth and development of children, adolescents and young people is priceless.
Note: I used the translator DeepL Translate.
The photos are my own taken with different phones I have had: Blu, Samsung J1 and Samsung J2.