10 BEST LIFE LESSONS YOUR TEACHERS MIGHT HAVE NOT SHARED IN CLASS
Teachers are not only the most responsible but also important members of society as their efforts affect the fate of the Earth. It is fair to say that they contribute more to the future in the world we live in by giving direction and shaping the young minds. Yet, do you feel that we often forget to tap into the wisdom of their experiences and knowledge of life? When was the last time you asked your teacher that what is it that they can teach you something that the academic curriculum doesn’t encapsulate?
On this occasion of Teacher’s Day, we selected some of our best life lessons which we have collected from more than 300 teachers over the years. Let’s look at our crusaders and learn of the life experiences that made them so.
1. Jeevan Kumar Majumdar
“Nothing in life is permanent. Everything that begins, will end someday. So contribute as much as you can to this world, within the limited time and resources you have.”
I have always been a person who has focused on building a strong moral character. I have never wanted to accumulate money or become famous because I know that they won’t stay forever. All these materialistic things sound fancy but you can’t spend your whole life just working for these. There’s so much more beyond that. I have always learned that when you focus on building your character and contributing positively to the world with whatever you have within your reach without confining your focus to these materialistic things, life begins to change for good. And that is what I wish for my students to take forward
2. Neelam Kaushik
“It doesn’t matter what you want, what matters is how you ask for it.”
My father used to get transferred to different locations often. Once, midyear he was transferred to Roorkee and I got admitted to a new convent school. I was told that I was in the green house. I went to the sister and asked for a green house badge. She asked me to go back and come again. I came again and said, “I want a green house badge”. Again she asked me to go and come back again. I did the same and she refused once more. It went on for some time. I was a child studying in class five. I was both, irritated and scared. Next day the prefects in the assembly asked me about my badge. I knew I was in a big problem. I hesitantly, again went to the same sister and said sheepishly, “Ma’am I want a green house badge”. This time I was almost into tears. She made me sit into her chair and then said to me, “Sister, May I please have a green house badge”. Then I realised what she wanted to tell me.
My parents also taught me that it doesn’t matter how much you want something, what matters is the way in which you ask. I have experienced this in my life, the more genuine and humbler you are in asking, there is more probability that you will get what you want.
3. Paromita Das
“Become a good human being before anything else, before opting for any profession.”
There were times when I had felt there was more need of being a good human being rather than chasing money and career. People are unique in their own possible ways and humanity is rooted in ethics. I believe that once a person is good, his life becomes good automatically. It is a chain that everyone should follow in their life. I want the students of my school to be good humans because I realized the same, when I was working with different people from different origins. For, if you are bad, you will have a bad perspective of everyone. It’s the way our psych syncs with the way we process thoughts on ourselves and others. The framing of information works on the grounds of symbolic interaction with others and the acknowledgement of self. Let’s all become good humans.
4. A Bahuguna
“There is no age for learning.”
My father is my role model. He has inspired me a lot to do better throughout my life. He had always wished to do his postgraduate in Mathematics. He made this dream come true when I was in college. There were times when my father and I went to college together. We appeared for exams sitting in adjacent classrooms. When I was in last year of my undergraduate studies, my father was in the first year of my postgraduate studies. It is from him, that I learned that one should never stop learning.
5. R Srikanth
“When you are given a task, be there 100%. Not even 99.9%.”
When I was a student, I always wanted to be a programmer. I got a job with a firm, but I never felt happy there. I wanted to leave the job within a month. I applied to many schools hoping to get a teacher’s job at any one of them. I had no formal experience and qualifications at that time to be a teacher but still got called for one interview. In my first class while I was teaching the students, I saw sunrays falling from the window on all of them. That was a defining moment for me since I realized that this is what I want to dedicate my life to. In those 40 minutes, I found my passion.
Moreover, I was very sporty in childhood. Those experiences helped me understand that if you’re in the game; your heart, soul and mind must be in the game to be successful. If you make a choice, then you must be there 100%. I’m inspired by a life led by commitment, honesty, and transparency.
6. Abhinai Kumar Saxena
“Simplify concepts for better understanding.”
I have loved Chemistry since childhood, as it required minimum effort and maximum output from me. Chemistry explains to us, what happens in our surroundings and nature. I believe I was a born teacher. While writing a book for the tenth grade, sometimes I used to find that concepts must be simplified at the student level. For an instance, while explaining physical and chemical changes, I wanted to use familiar examples. It was then that I used the example of Maggi to explain the concept. The key to teaching is simplifying concepts for bettering understanding. And I do practice the same, in developing and ideating on these lines.
7. Nisha Malik
“When you have problems in life, always look into the mirror to get confidence.”
There was a time when I used to get depressed. I remember my friend’s advice to look into the mirror and talk to myself. I used this advice whenever I felt low confidence and self-doubt. Self-talk and a smile on my face reminded me of the significance of values like respecting and loving myself. I drew strength within myself and got the courage to face life’s problems.
8. Anand Krishnaswamy
“There are no equations in life.”
Equations in life don’t exist. This whole notion of ‘if I did good, I will get good and if I did bad, then I will get punished’ is humbug. I have seen people do bad things in their life and lived fantastically till the end of their days. You have a thousand reasons to do the wrong thing, but only one reason to do the right thing, and that is because it is the right thing. It is a question of choice. If you are looking to balance the equations in life, then trust me, nothing is going to get balanced. Equations don’t exist.
9. Bharti Bhardwaj
“We can never go back to our past. But we can always fix what is in our hand for future.”
I could not finish my second year of masters in vocal music due to marriage. Now after 12 years of my marriage, I’m pursuing my masters afresh. I can’t go back into my past to finish my masters but can start again even if I have to do my first year all over again.
10. Tanya Mehta
“Look at the smaller things in life, don’t just focus on the end goal.”
You should try to see the good in small things. Don’t always look for the final goal. The journey also really counts. We tend to focus on negatives a lot. Even in relationships, one thing goes wrong and you end the relationship. You forget to look at the time that you spent and cherished with them.
Every loss, every gain, every moment spent idle is a lesson in disguise. Let us all for a moment, step outside the pages of our books and the doors of our schools to fully appreciate the real definition of a teacher.
P.S: And a very very happy teacher’s day to our very own sounding boards who make us who we are today. Thank you, teachers for opening up the world of opportunities for us