Being a teacher is often a thankless job. Aside from some cards, a few small gifts, and probably too many apples on Teacher Appreciation Day, most teachers aren't rewarded for their amazing work.
In fact, it's probably fair to say that most teachers deal with complaints more than they get praised. Teachers regularly have to be hard on their students — no matter the age of the kids they're teaching, no teaching job is solely about academic education.
In addition to teaching their specific school subject, teachers are also responsible for helping their students adjust emotionally and behaviorally to growing up.
A lot of young teachers burn out after a few years because of the challenging aspects of the job, but those who teach for their entire lives are truly heroes. Every parent knows how hard it can be to teach a child — and teachers do it with up to 30 children!
Even when students realize how wonderful a teacher is, they often don't do anything about it. I can think of five amazing teachers I had who I never told how much they mattered to me — and I'm sure you can think of some too.
So when one retired teacher received a message from a stranger on Facebook, she didn't think anything of it.
After asking, "Were you one of my students?" though, she got a message she definitely wasn't expecting.
The ex-student wrote, "Yes. I graduated high school in '99. My name was ____. You used to open the computer room for me at lunch. And let me turn my Home Room into the computer room.. and you'd get there super early. This at a time when #STEM wasn't a thing for girls. I'm now a Director of Hadoop Data Engineering and Development. I write software on emerging technology platforms and lead an organization in innovation and development initiatives. I just wanted to say thank you."
This retired teacher was stunned. She had no idea she'd played such a big role in this student's life. She immediately responded to the message after she read it.
The teacher wrote, "Oh ____, I very much remember you. I always knew you would do wonderful things with your life and scrolling down through you [sic] FB page, I can see I was correct! Thank you so much for writing this to me. You made me cry! It means so much to me, I will always treasure your words."
The student responded, "Well crap. Now I'm crying too. Thank you so much. I've thought about you a lot over the years. I'm glad I was able to find you and let you know how much of a difference you made in my life."
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h/t Elite Daily
