My Other Parents

Writer: Larissa Ann Joya

     When I was a kid, my teachers would constantly say the phrase, “We are your second parents.” I did not give it much thought back then, just that it was nice to have more adults to pester with my questions. And secretly, I would think to myself: “My parents might get jealous when they find out I have other parents!” Now that I am older (and aware that my parents will not, in fact, be jealous of my teachers), that phrase has begun to hold a deeper meaning than what my crayon-filled mind could grasp back then. I have come to realize that teachers do raise students—in loud and quiet ways. Loud in the way their voices cut through the classroom air, explaining numerous textbook facts and definitions. And quiet in the way their lessons find their place into the small crevices in our paths, each waiting for the right time to unveil itself. 

        For some of us, teachers typically come and go. Unlike parents, they do not get to spend the rest of their lives with us. Instead, they leave knowledge that would last us a lifetime. Much like the quote by Henry Adams, “A teacher affects eternity; he can never tell where his influence stops,” a teacher’s impact does not stop once we step out of their classroom. Think of the greatest minds in history, those whose words and frameworks built the foundation of different fields of knowledge. Most, if not all, are no longer alive, yet their teachings continue to shape generations of intellectuals. Maria Montessori, whose method of education introduced a more creative approach to learning; Horace Mann, whose advocacy and blueprint for a public school system paved the way for free education in the U.S.; and John Dewey, whose philosophy of Pragmatism emphasized the role of experience and application in education. Their teachings continue to breathe through the pages of textbooks and along the nooks and crannies of school hallways. While they have long passed, their teachings are, for all intents and purposes, still alive. 

       “Teachers are people who start things they never see finished, and for which they never get thanks until it is too late”—these words by Max Forman perfectly encapsulate the essence of what it is like for our teachers. They lay the first bricks for us, with which we build the foundation of who we are and who we can be. As I build further, I have come to ponder about how big of a role teachers actually have in our lives. It was not clear to me then, but it is now—our teachers have a greater impact on our lives than we realize. So, at the ripe age of 21, with a fair share of lessons and experiences, I vouch for the saying that teachers are our second parents. And even if they cannot watch us grow as we go on with our lives, they impart something that does—education.