I am not a wizzard. And I do not live in the land of Oz. Traverse City certainly is a wonderful place to live, but it ain’t no Oz. Apologies to those whose “English gene” is now screeming. This is a blog, not a discertation.

I am a teacher. And I find myself constantly reflecting on the connections between Dorothy, her awareness of lions, tigers, and bears, and her reaction of fear to this reality.

Einstein was right (see embedded cartoon on “Our Education System”).   As a teacher, I have before me each semester, lions, tigers, and bears. This is my reality. Who they are is who they are. I can not change that, nor do I want to. Never!

Whether students realize it or not, they are all differernt. We are all different. What we share in common, this semester, is a baptism into the subject matter, the “waters” of Accounting. That is my primary responsibility to them as their teacher.

Unlike Dorothy, my reaction to this reality is not fear. At least I am not afraid that they will “get” me. Being harmed by them is not my concern. I am not saying I don’t know fear or that fear is a distant cousin.

My fear is of a different kind. I fear that somehow I will let them down. I fear that I will not present them with an excellent version of and experience with “water.” I fear that I will somehow present them with a cheap substitute, that slowly but surely my motivation for teaching will shift from them, the student, to me, the teacher. And that is a space and place I do not want to live from.

And I fear that they will not discover their own sense of self. I want my class and our bathing together in the public waters of Accounting (clothing required), to help them to consider and discover their own design of “self.” Are they a fish? Is there an element of “fishiness” in them for which exposure to water will help to clarify who they really already are? Do they think this way? Is this a part of what education, at its very best, could be?

Yes, everday, before me I gather with lions, tigers and bears….and fish. They are the lucky ones for whom a sense of discovery, a sense of “calling” has come. For many, they have discovered, a light has dawned, to their own sense of true self.

They can move forward with integrity. A fish is to water what water is to a fish. They get along…swimmingly.

I am not a wizzard. I am a teacher who believes there must be more. More to teaching. More to learning. More to what it really means to be part of a “Community” “College.”

After all, just over the rainbow, there is something beautiful on the other side, right?

Lions, tigers, and bears, oh my?  Oh yes!  What an opportunity.  How wonderful.  How beautiful.   How lucky am I to live under this canopy of grace called “education.”