Teachers — as Influencers

(Or the realization that words have power)

Today, I hear the term “Influencer,” and I immediately think of celebrities, reality television stars, and social media champions.

Now, I won’t deny that these people influence different aspects of our lives. However, two other categories are also worth mentioning: Parents and Teachers. In a very real sense, Parents are teachers, so I want to focus on teachers as influencers for just a bit.

Background

I come from a family of teachers. My grandfather was a teacher. My grandmother was a teacher. My wife is a teacher, and I am a teacher.

Yet, even with all the teaching around me, it wasn’t until my third year as a college instructor that I realized how, by wielding their most potent weapons — words, teachers influence their students.

That year I received an invitation to buy “Who’s Who Among America’s Teachers.” Before you say, “that’s a book buying scam,” I know. They are a business. Nevertheless, if a student had taken the time to nominate me, I felt compelled that to fill out the information sheet and send it in to complete the profile. After all, someone felt they were honoring me through the nomination.

It was time to closely read the invitation and see who nominated me.

There was he name: Elvira.

I remembered her. Elvira had been in my freshman English Composition course the year before and quietly sat in the very back, as close to the door as you could get without escaping my class altogether.

I immediately thought, “Could it be, a young woman, who hardly said anything at all in the class thought I was worthy of any mention after the class was done? If so, why?”

A Year Later: The Answer

As luck would have it, I ran into her at a job fair about a year later. As soon as Elvira saw me, she immediately wanted to know if I had received the Who’s Who. During the conversation, she said something that has stuck with me ever since:

“You were the first person who told me I had the potential to do what I had set out to do.”

Elvira was now getting ready to graduate from the Nursing program as a top graduate.

Realization

That is when it struck me on a personal level. Be careful with one’s words. They can hurt or help, and we may not even know what we said, to whom, or when.

Words can just as easily dash hopes and dreams as they can nurture them.

Since that time, I have heard from my grandfather’s and grandmother’s former students, most of whom are old enough to be my parents. Even after almost six decades, they comment about my grandparents’ words of encouragement, advice, and cheer. That is a good legacy.

My wife’s and my own students have also come back and let us know about their achievements. Sometimes, they will comment on things that, to us, were not that important, such as “avoid using ‘a lot’ when you write formal papers” or “make sure to address letters to a specific person when applying for a job.”

These comments keep reinforcing that we need to choose our words carefully, lest they destroy someone’s dream, hope, or budding confidence.

Final Thoughts

Teachers have enormous influence, whether we may realize it or not. Our words, ideas, and off-hand comments all carry weight. Elvira’s words taught me a lesson too, and for that, I will be forever grateful.

If you remember something a teacher told you that really influenced you, please put it in the comments. It’d be great to see the words that have had an effect on us.

If you liked this article, take a look at the some of the few others I have written. I would love to get your feedback, as I just started writing on Medium.

Also, please check out Randall Surles, Shawna Malvini Redden, and Olivia Marlene.

All three write about many wonderful and different things. I have found some valuable insight in their articles and I think you will get some value out of their work too.

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