priceless

Recently, a friend of mine commented that teaching was "a waste of a life." His argument consisted entirely of the idea that we spend so much time in the educational system, so jumping back into it after college seemed "anticlimactic." Instead of going out and making major discoveries in math and science, or becoming a diplomat to change the world, I decide to teach kids. If teaching really is a waste of a life, I would like to know how people expect to get to where they want to go without teachers. Most of the work teachers do should be labeled "involuntary volunteering." The work teachers accomplish in the classroom is priceless, but they rarely get the money and recognition they deserve. I would be a completely different person today if it hadn't been for my teachers. They were the inspiration to think for myself, and that's huge. Every student faces challenges during their school years, and teachers are the ones who support us through that time. I thought about what we consider to be valuable resources. The most valuable resource, the most productive resource, is people. People are at the start of every new idea, and at the end of every sale. People are the beginning, middle and end of everything. I choose to educate people for my living. I can't think of anything that would be more important than helping to raise a child that will be the start of a new idea. Teachers are the confidence, the encouragement and the nourishment behind so many dreams. If the Tree of Knowledge really does exist, then teachers are the fruit. //Emma Kreiner is a student in the University of Cincinnati's College of Education.//
 * Teachers' work far from waste; it's priceless**BY EMMA KREINER