From Chalk Dust to Heartbeats

All professions have their own sparkle—doctors heal bodies, engineers build bridges, artists paint emotions. But there’s one profession that quietly lays the foundation for them all—teaching.

A teacher doesn’t just walk into a classroom with a textbook. They walk in with dreams—some their own, but mostly borrowed from the bright-eyed faces staring back at them. “A good teacher can inspire hope, ignite the imagination, and instill a love of learning,” someone once said, and I’ve seen this magic unfold.

Years ago, I was teaching nursing students—a role that filled me with a joy hard to explain. Then, life took me down different paths. Fast forward a few years: I visited a hospital with my husband, and to my surprise, the nurse preparing to give him an injection paused, looked up, and her face lit up. She was one of my former students. She smiled warmly, called me ma’am, and said, “Thank you for teaching me.” In that moment, I realised—lessons don’t just stay in classrooms; they travel into lives, careers, and acts of care. That gratitude was worth more than any award.

Teachers don’t just teach math or science—they teach patience when handling fifty restless little humans, and kindness when a child learns to share a pencil. They are the invisible architects of the future, brick by brick, word by word.

To children, teachers are role models. The way a teacher smiles, listens, or even ties their hair becomes something worth copying. A “Well done!” can feel bigger than a gold medal.

And their secret superpower? Drinking cold tea without flinching because the bell rang before it could be sipped warm.

Teaching may not make you a billionaire, but it makes you rich in lives touched and futures shaped.

Thought to ponder: If teaching creates every other profession, shouldn’t the world value teachers as the root of all greatness?