“What is a teacher? I’ll tell you: it isn’t someone who teaches something, but someone who inspires the student to give of her best in order to discover what she already knows.”
― Paulo Coelho, The Witch of Portobello
A few years ago I received an unexpected email from a friend informing me that my mentor had passed away. I am still amazed at how I made it to the funeral home; it was difficult to drive with the rain and the tears. I sat in church prayed for the family and reflected on how precious life is.
My mentor decided to retire from the company where we both worked at, and my couple of attempts at getting in touch didn’t pan out. Before I knew it, three years had gone by since our last meeting. The whole week after his funeral I replayed our conversation from our last meeting. It was his last week and he was going to ride off into retirement sunset. I asked him for advice since the sun was setting on his career and I still had many moons left in mine. He told me “to find a bigger stage”. He said: “Why be ordinary when you can be extraordinary”.
I miss him everyday. I wish I could tell him that even in death he inspired me. He gave me the push that I needed to discover what I already knew. He saw how strong, resilient, and resourceful I can be. He saw the entrepreneur in me and inspired me to give my best. I discovered what I had forgotten; I am a passionate educator and I can inspire those who have trouble seeing their innate abilities.
