Author: Mrs Amarpreet Khaddar, Educator
Every year I meet a new group of students. Most of them carry the same worry. What should I become? Doctor, engineer, lawyer, business owner? Parents ask me about grades. Students ask me about career paths. Everyone seems to be in a hurry to become something.
I understand that pressure. I was once in their shoes.
But after years of teaching, I have realized something that no textbook taught me. We spend so much time asking children what they want to do. We completely forget to ask them who they want to be. That is the more important question.
I don’t remember the topper of my class during my school days. But I clearly remember the friend who offered me her lunch when I forgot mine. I remember the one who helped me walk to the first-aid room when I got hurt on the playground. And I will never forget the classmate who took the blame for something I did, just to save me from a scolding.
Their marks? I seriously have no clue. But their kindness? I remember it like it was yesterday.
As a teacher, my job is to teach subjects. But over the years I have realized that my role as a teacher extends far beyond textbooks and examination. Before I teach English, I am teaching young humans how to live. If a student leaves my class with straight As but no kindness, I wonder if I have really succeeded. If they crack every exam but cannot say sorry or thank you, have I truly prepared them for life?
A skilled doctor without empathy can leave a patient feeling helpless. But a person with a simple degree and a big heart stays with you forever. Maybe that’s the reason people say, ‘People may forget what you did, but they never forget how you made them feel.’
None of us is perfect. I have lost my patience in class. I have said things I wish I could take back. I have judged too quickly. But being human means owning those moments. It means apologizing to a student when I am wrong. It means listening before judging. It means treating every child with respect, not because they earned it, but because they deserve it.
In our schools we spend years drilling formulas, dates and grammar rules. All of that is useful. But the real lessons of life are much simpler. Saying thank you, admitting a mistake and helping without expecting anything back.
These small choices shape the society we will all live in.
In a world obsessed with titles and trophies, the greatest achievement is to stay genuinely human. Careers will change. Ranks will be forgotten. But the way we make people feel stays with them forever.
So if someone asks me today what I want to become, my answer is simple. I already have a designation. But the only title I truly want to earn every single day is this: a good human being. And if I can help even one student choose that over a rank, I will have done my real job.
