And The Winner Is...

Like so many others around the globe, I am tuning in to another installment of the Academy Awards tonight. And, like so many others, I have no idea why I put myself through this year after year. Maybe it’s to see who wears the goofiest, gaudiest dress. Maybe it’s the hope that Brad will stand up and announce that he’s still in love with Jen. Maybe, secretly, I watch hoping to see someone throw a temper tantrum when the Oscar goes to “the other guy.”

Even though each scenario would be very entertaining, the truth is that I’m not just in it for twisted amusement. (To be clear though, I am not giving up hope for any of them.)

The truth is that I’m on the edge of my seat tonight hoping to see what happens so rarely. Yet, it’s the singular moment that makes all these years of watching boring acceptance speeches by sweaty, rambling sound mixers, worthwhile. It’s that moment when a speech seems so genuine and heart-felt that you really feel that there – there is passion and dedication, embodied in flesh, standing before you. Like Cuba Gooding Junior’s speech on his first Oscar win, when with arms flailing and enthusiasm abounding he shouted, “THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU!” at the top of his lungs again and again until he was nearly exhausted.

When I see something like that, I know someone is really living their dream.

As a teacher, that’s what we hope to groom our students to become: embodiments of their dreams. Whether they become actors, doctors, lawyers, teachers, parents, ministers, civil servants or anything in between, we want to see them happy and successful on their own terms.

It’s very common to think that sole hope of the math teacher is to see her students use calculus on a daily basis; the English teacher, that his students will read Lord Jim again – just for fun; the chemistry teacher that her students will set something on fire at home, experimenting. That’s not completely true, though. While they hope for it, just like I’m still holding out for Brad’s confession, it’s not the only thing that they hope to impart.

For the teacher’s that really care, which if we are being honest, is most of us, we hope that our students grow up to be their best by enjoying their lives to the fullest, living what they hoped for themselves, each and every day. Even if that means no more calculus, no more Lord Jim, no more experiments gone awry.

And, so, at the end of it all, the winner is… the student, whose teacher gave him or her, the opportunity and tools to find his dreams, and the freedom to realize those dreams even if they aren’t the same as the teachers. After all, I’d be pretty upset if my math teacher considered me a total failure in life because I have to use my calculator and try not to even think about anything beyond long division.

Or, maybe the winner is… the teacher who gets to watch dreams come true again and again for hundreds of students knowing that she had a part in someone’s – anyone’s – personal success.