Teachers and the Long Game

Today is Teacher Appreciation Day, and it’s also Cinco de Mayo, so there is a lot happening on this Tuesday. But I want to take a moment for the teachers.

Here’s what I know about the best teachers I’ve had: not one of them knew the impact they were having while they were having it. They showed up, they did the work, they said the thing that needed saying — and somewhere down the line, years later, it landed. It became part of how someone thinks. Part of how they talk to themselves in hard moments. Part of the person they grew into.

That’s the long game of kindness in its purest form. The ripple you send out without knowing where it goes. The Tuesday afternoon effort that turns into someone else’s life raft years from now.

If a teacher shaped you, today is a good day to tell them. Even a short note. Even just thinking of them clearly and acknowledging what they gave you.

And then go be that for someone else.

The best teachers never knew the full impact they were having. That’s also true of you.

Who’s a teacher — formal or otherwise — who shaped the way you see the world?