The time has come for me to say bye for now. I have decided to put away my teaching tools. I am done with this portion of my life. I now look forward to a new adventure on this journey through life.
To all the students that I have had the privilege to teach, thank you for letting me be a part of your development. You could have simply ignored me and let the opportunity pass by. Thanks for not ignoring me and the messages that I brought. I will live on in the lives of all of my students in one way or another. Because of this fact, I gave my all and my best at all times. For this again I thank you.
I spent 39 years in a profession that I did not choose. The profession chose me. As many of you know, my start in teaching is an unusual one. Long story short, I received a full academic scholarship to UWI to complete a BS degree in Natural sciences. Contingent to the scholarship was the stipulation that I will teach for as long as the scholarship lasted. This was brought to my attention 5 years later when I returned home from college.
That started a whole new "war" between me and the ministry of education of the Bahamas. There were about 10 indentured students in total and they reassigned 8 of them to other ministries throughout the Bahamas. The 2 that remained included me and another young lady who definitely wanted to teach. I, the rejected, dejected, and down right angry man was left to report to his assigned school by September 1980. I showed up in October 1980.......I had a son and wife to feed.
I started working on a job where I could not be fired and I took complete freedom in this fact. To summarize I was not a professional at all. I would do, go, return, leave whenever, however, I feel. The principal called me into his office and as a result of our conversation, he made me promise to give teaching a fair effort, and by the end of the year, if things didn't work out, then he would do whatever he can to help me transfer somewhere else. That seemed fair to me at the time, as there was nothing else I can do.
The new year started and there was a new principal.....and as life/fate continued to direct my path, the new principal was my former middle school teacher. There are no coincidences in life. I held this lady in high regards. I was one of her best students back then. So it goes without saying, that she informed the faculty that I was a former student of hers and she did so with pride. Now, I had to get rid of all my "shenanigans" and I actually wanted to, because now I had to show the principal (my teacher) that I am the best at what I do.
Then my true nature kicked in, the students were actually listening to me. They started asking me questions, I was glad to answer the questions and show them stuff. The teacher showed up. I got excited that they didn't know stuff, and I can show them, explain it to them, see them get excited to learn this stuff, and come back later dying to continue where we left off. This positive feedback served as the driving energy/force for 39 years.
Conclusion, God had a plan for me that suited my abilities. I am so blessed to have been placed in a position where I can positively affect the development of young people and then watch them grow up and have families of their own (thanks FB & IG) and become contributing members of our society.
Teaching is a calling, not a job!
It is for some, not all.
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