Life influences

Who is the biggest influence in your life? Do they know it? Sometimes it surprises me at how people influence others and don't even realize it. Last night I couldn't sleep and I got a text on my computer from a student of mine 2 years ago. She wanted to tell me how much she liked my class. She is now teaching in a university and accredited her success to me. She remembered many things in the class that affected her. When she was in my class she blended in and was just a student. I didn't realize that I affected her life at all. I influenced her life, and I didn't even know.

Sometimes the person that influences you the most is a parent. Sometimes it is both parents, but usually it is one parent. When we are young it is important to follow our parents advice. As we get older it is a sign of maturity to stand up to our parents and tell them what we really want. As we get older we are that parent and have the influence on our children. Part of the responsibility is to teach our children to stand up to us. When my children are young and they say, "no", then I am upset because I want to teach them right from wrong. When they are older and  they say, "no", I feel good, because I know I taught them to be independent.

In my senior year of college I did my student teaching for a 4th/5th combination class. I didn't do very good as a student teacher, according to my college professor, but I think I was a positive influence on the students. After college I joined the Army and then after the Army I owned a bookstore. One day while I was working in the bookstore I got a call from a girl that had been in the class when I was student teaching. She had kept my phone number from all those years ago and it was my parents number and she called them and they gave her the store number. She had just gotten divorced and had a child. She called to tell me thank-you.

She told me that when she was in my class she was being abused at home. Coming to school was her way of escaping the hell she was living at home. Through the years she would think of me and smile. She kept the class picture I was in and that made her happy thinking of that time. She told me the story and she was in tears. I was also. I felt ashamed that I didn't realize what she was going through. She didn't want me to know at that time and was just happy that I was able to be her friend during that time. I started realizing how much I influence people. I hope I am a positive influence on people still.

People influence me too. A person may think that I influence their life and be thankful to me. Sometimes the influence is reciprocated. I am influenced by some people that have no idea that they have had any affect on my life. I always give a little of myself to my students. My students sometimes give me a little of themselves which helps keep me in balance. Influences on me come in many ways. I get much energy from my classes. In the many years I have been teaching one or two students have made me feel happy to be their teacher. I don't want that student to move on. I want them to always know how happy I am because I know them.

They think I am a big influence on their life, but they don't realize that they are as important to me as I am to them.

No person is an island. None of us really is able to live without having the influence of other people on their life, and influencing others. The secret is having people around us that are a positive influence. I think I have found some of those positive people to have around me and keep me in a positive state of mind.