Article January 10, 2005 Issue

TOUCHING ONE LIFE AT A TIME

Donna J. Bradley

It isn't hard to feel cynical about education; there are so many things that seem impossible to correct. But one of the things I try to remember as a teacher is that it's not my job to cure the entire school system or the world, much as I would like to see better learning conditions and better management. It's my responsibility to let God guide me and to serve Him, rather than a particular school system. That may sound a bit abstract, but the only thing that will really bring about improvement is something that will change and inspire people's hearts. And so I pray for inspiration from God that will help me work with my students in a loving, and hopefully productive, way.

My daily goal is to forward the betterment of humankind through the young people I meet. These people are the future of our country and the world. That doesn't mean I succeed all the time. But I've reached a point where I feel that if I've reached just one student a year, I've affected 20 lives over the 20 years I've been teaching. That doesn't sound like much, but if each of those lives has been made better somehow, and if every teacher affects one life a year, and each of those live touch 20 more lives ... it's exponential.

Donna J. Bradley
Orlando, Florida

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