10/16/2018

A Teacher Proud and Loud

Students graduate and commence.

After completing a program, they begin learning new things and growing in their experience. And here I am, one of their teachers, left looking proud and being loud. 

Proud because those who struggled through their college years, in danger of not making it, finally march with their cap and gown. I like to think I had been an impetus to their turning points—that life changing moment when they realized college degrees  are important, too. Proud also because those who settled for nothing but excellence, march with honors, one of them delivering the valedictory address.

And loud? How can one not applaud lustily and scream "Bravo!" when each name is called? Maybe graduations are more of a teacher’s defining moment than the student’s. 

In this transnational university, where students come from many parts of the world, I sometimes get them in their freshman year, and also in their in-between years, and finally their senior year—depending on my availability. That's why when they finally leave the campus, I turn sappy.

Every graduation is a grand milestone, but this year, it is even a grander one. My student from Papua, New Guinea flew in a planeload of kin to watch him being conferred his degree. 
 
We are celebrating 20 years as an institution, 18 of which I have been a part of. This latest one would have been the 18th ceremony I'd have attended were it not for that one year when I had a book talk out of town.

(Photo shows our guest speaker and the university officers and deans ready to hand the diplomas)
Someone said that at the heart of our humanness is a calling to grow—we  are learners and growers. With each graduation, I know I have learned and grown many times over. Each is a milestone for a proud and loud teacher.

"Instruct the wise and they will be wiser still; teach the righteous and they will add to their learning." Proverbs 9:9

No comments: