The Second Most Important Day in My Life

         

     A famous person once said, “There are two important days in your life.  The day you are born and the day you find out why.”  That famous person was Mark Twain.   

      I know a little bit about the day I was born, but I know more about the day I decided what I wanted to do with my life.

     In high school, I had an English teacher that had a huge impact on my life.  I don’t remember any of her grammar, writing, or literature lessons, but I remember something that she said on the first day of school.  Those words would change my life forever.

     It was a hot summer day in late August.  About thirty students were sitting in a small classroom.  The room smelled like floor wax.  The floors were shiny and spotless.  The small air conditioner hummed gently in the back of the classroom.  It struggled to cool the room filled with thirty students and one teacher.  The sound of a custodian cutting the grass could be heard outside the window.  The lawn mower buzzed with a long nonstop sound.   In the front of the classroom was my ninth grade English teacher.  Mrs. Dudeck stood straight, tall, and with dignity as if she was the queen of England.  Mrs. Dudeck talked about all the wonderful books we would read and all the valuable grammar lessons that she was going to teach.  She talked about the writing projects that were on her syllabus.  She spoke with confidence and enthusiasm. Everyone in the room could tell that Mrs. Dudeck enjoyed reading, writing, and teaching.

     Some of the students in the class were not giving Mrs. Dudeck their full attention.  A small group of girls in the back of the classroom were discussing clothes, makeup, and nail polish.  They were trying to decide which color of nail polish looked better with the clothes that they were wearing.  Some of the boys that played sports were whispering about whether or not the school would have a winning season.  Other students were sharing with their friends what they had been doing over the summer.  They talked in low voices about their family vacations and about learning how to drive.  My mind was somewhere else.  I wasn’t thinking about reading, writing, grammar, clothes, makeup, nail polish, sports, or family vacations.  My thoughts drifted off to the work that was waiting for me back on the farm when I returned home from school.  Farm life was hard and there was always something to do. 

     A student that sat in the middle of the classroom politely raised his hand.  The class period was almost over and it was about time for the teacher to assign homework.  Not one student in the class was eager to get a homework assignment, especially on the first day of school.  He was going to try to distract the teacher so that she would forget about the homework assignment or the bell would ring while she was answering his question and there would not be any time to discuss the homework assignment before everyone rushed out of the room.  He was going to ask a simple question that might take Mrs. Dudeck the rest of the class period to answer.  He ask her why she decided to become a teacher.  Her answer stuck with me for the rest of my life.

      She said, “I became a teacher because I wanted to use my brain and not my back.”  I perked up and started listening.  This was something that interested me.  I thought that is what I want to do.   I want to be a teacher.  I want to use my brain and not have to use my back working on the farm.  It was at that very moment that I decided to become a teacher.  I felt a heavy weight lift off of my shoulders.  I now had something to look forward to.  Someday I was going to be a teacher.  I would not have to spend the rest of my life doing the hard work that my parents seem content to do.  I am going to be like Mrs. Dudeck.  I am going to use my brain and not my back. I am going to shape the future.  I am going to be a teacher. 

     It would be many years before I became a teacher, but at least I knew what I wanted to do with my life.  Eventually, I would have my own classroom with the shiny tile floors, brightly colored bulletin boards, and students eager to learn.  I often wondered what happened to Mrs. Dudeck.  Was she still teaching?  Was she still alive?  I got the answer to that question when I saw Mrs. Dudeck on TV.  She and her husband were in a commercial for their son’s law firm.   I will always remember Mrs. Dudeck’s words on that first day of school in the ninth grade.  Her words changed my life forever.