When I think of what teaching is I think of…

• My first few months on the job when students did all they could to try and make me quit (because everyone else had already given up on them) and I told them “I am not going anywhere.” 
• When I was able to help one of my former at-risk students enroll for classes at junior college
• When I was able to help several of my students complete their community service hours to help get them off of their court sanctions
• When I was able to share with my students in the joy they had when they graduated, even when no one else thought they could
• When one student had “my back” when he thought another student was going to hurt me
• When students had to call in for curfew checks and wanted to stay on the phone because they knew they had someone interested in listening to their stories
• When a student called for me to help her out of a bad situation with her boyfriend
• The times spent counseling and helping students through abuse situations, unwanted pregnancies and abortions, and family and friendship crises
• The love and commitment I had for all of my students and the desire and passion to help them rise above their obstacles and become something great! 

Teaching is not just what goes on in the classroom. Teaching is what stays with students for the rest of their lives. It is what helps to shape their future in positive ways. It is what shows students how much you care and how much you are willing to invest your time in them.
--“To the world I may be one person, but to one person I may be the world”