Teaching is hard. And exhausting. And emotional. And so many other things that people who are not one of us will never understand.

But as I sit here and watch my kids work their little hearts out during these last few days of school, I am grateful. As I watch my seniors, who I have known since they were little freshmen babies, get ready to go spread their wings in this big, beautiful world we live in, I am honored. I am honored to have been a part of their life, their journey, and their story. I am honored to have had the opportunity to be their friend when they needed one, their talking post when life became too much, their toughest critic when they needed a reminder that they were better than that, and their teacher. I am honored to have been given the chance to watch them do things no one ever thought they could. I am honored to see them leave this world a little better and brighter than they found it. I am inspired by their kindness, their tenacity, their love for life and their beliefs in their dreams and themselves.

It is easy to come to work every day and get bogged down by the ins and outs of what it means to be an educator today. I am grateful to work in a building where the emphasis is on the students, all the time. However, I know some are not as fortunate. But it is easy to be so focused on test scores and grading papers and filling out IEP referrals or even just managing the seven different jobs we do inside of the building besides teacher, to focus on how incredible this job really is. We get to watch these wonderful students surprise us every day. We get to watch them slowly become who they are supposed to be and watch them find their purpose. We watch them come in as children and leave as young adults. We watch them impact others lives by just being who they are, while they are oblivious to the impact they are having.

I will say it again, teaching is hard. Especially at the end of the school year. But let's not lose sight of just how special this teaching world really is. How special our students are. When you are losing sight of why you are doing what you are doing, just remember why you started. Or, even better, take a second and look up from your computer or lesson plans or whatever it is you are working on and look at your kids. Look at who they are. Who they have become. How they’ve grown. It is incredible what can happen in 9 short months.

To all my kids, thank you for reminding me today why I do what I do. It’s because of you that I am who I am today.