Being aware of your unseen example

Last week I was observing one of my classes complete an exam whilst sitting on a desk.

I know, I’m the height of professionalism.

As I watched the usual squirms of anguish, punctuated with flashes of inspiration, I noticed the position I was in.

It exactly resembled a teacher I had in high school.

She used to perch on the desk in the exact same way.

I wonder if I subconsciously learnt it from her.

I can assure you, it was not a lesson she intended to pass on.

I can only assume, when it comes to the young chaps sitting her class in the late 1900’s, she didn’t expect there to be any future teachers.

Thus, she wasn’t aware that she was laying a blueprint for someone whom would be at the front of a classroom nearly a quarter-century later.

Frankly, I fall into a similar mindset.

I don’t assume that those within my classroom are the teachers of tomorrow.

I certainly don’t assume that I’ll create a lasting impression even if they do go on to complete a Bachelor of Education.

But there’s a chance that it will be the case.

Just as I assume it was when I was a teen at church.

I don’t presume, as I went through puberty, that many figured that I’d work in youth ministry for over a decade.

But, as I did, I often reflected those whom were in leadership while I was growing up.

I lead like them. I spoke like them. I planned like them.

For better or for worse.

The real message is, when it comes to the way you conduct yourself, be it your quirks, mannerisms, the tone you set, the decisions you make, the process you take to reach those decisions or the way you communicate, all of these can potentially shape someone who will (even decades later) follow in your footsteps.

It’s our duty, therefore, to leave them a worthy example to follow.