Sometimes it's easier to focus on the problems in life than the joys. You remember the child whose mother phoned you at home on a Thursday night to scream and swear, but not that the child hugged you on the way out the door. You remember that little Tommy failed his math test and did worse on his rewrite, but you forget that before he came to you he couldn't even count.
We as a society tend to focus on the bad. People speak up when they have a complaint, but not when things are going well. We remember our failures, but not our successes. And in teaching you don't get many earth shattering success stories - times when you effect a visible change in a child's life. Those moments, while wonderful, are few and far between.
If you were a banker you'd be able to see your money multiply, but what would it mean? Things that have meaning - things that matter - these things take time and patience. And with teaching you often don't realize the difference you made for many years, when you find yourself staring up in amazement at a twenty year old man who you remember as a small, angry child. Sometimes you won't even know about your successes. Most of the time, you'll know you succeeded when you don't see that child - when you don't see her on the streets, or in the news, or in jail. You'll know you were one step in influencing a person, in helping her on the path to adulthood, maturity, and self-esteem.
Think back for a moment. How many teachers can you name? How many can you remember far more clearly than the friends, the games, the work? That is your legacy.
You have to be strong to teach. It is a massive investment of time and energy for what sometimes feels like no reward. But don't ever forget.
Teaching matters.