Thoughts from a beloved 2nd year

In the days leading up to their departure, the second years provided us with some witty one-liners, what they considered great revalations and as many pearls of wisdom as they had the energy to pass along.  While most everything our second years tell us is nothing short of enlightening, one particular comment really stood out to me. In the midst of a discussion regarding the merits of the teaching profession and why someone would make teaching a lifetme vocation, one of the second years said:

"I think it is easy to see why people leave.  You are only rewarded in one of two ways:  fleetingly and then forgotten or so long after the fact that you may never even know how much you were apreciated.  Think about it...  Either you see a kid have a 'lightbulb moment' and the reward of seeing your student succeed is just a fleeting success, or your students fail to realize how much they learn from you until they are much older and they write a book about you or something.  And even then you don't always know..."

Just wanted to share this "golden nugget of knowledge!"  (Don't worry, in the words of my fantabulous former co-first year, "I love teaching!")