In honor of Teacher Appreciation Week (May 6-10), we at Blink want to thank each person who works in the education profession. We know the work you do isn\u2019t always easy; however, the impact you have can be life-changing.<\/i><\/p>\n
In an effort to honor those who have shaped and molded us, each day this week will feature a special blog post from a Blink author about a teacher\u2014or teachers\u2014who had a profound impact in their life.<\/i><\/p>\n
To all those working in the education field\u2014thank you for believing in us when we didn\u2019t know how to believe in ourselves. We value and admire the work that you do!<\/i><\/p>\n
The Gift of Passion \u2028by Lauren Mansy<\/strong><\/p>\n Growing up, I never dreamed of becoming a writer.<\/p>\n I was always one of those kids that loved a little bit of everything but was never passionate about just one thing. I played a variety of sports, performed with a musical theater group, attended art camp, and was overall pretty content to dabble with various hobbies. I entered college with hopes of becoming a nurse but switched my major to English Literature as my interest in literature grew deeper. My senior year, there were two teachers who helped me discover a love of writing fiction.<\/p>\n From that moment on, all I wanted to do was put words on paper. I felt as if I\u2019d finally found my passion \u2026 as if I could finally relate to the teachers who\u2019d so faithfully demonstrated this trait for me in their classrooms. I was able to recognize a passion growing inside of me because they first had showed me what passion truly looked like.<\/p>\n One teacher who\u2019s had a huge impact on my life taught me the importance of always seeking to grow. His classes weren\u2019t easy for me, but his enthusiasm for my work never wavered, even when I struggled to pull my grades up. His steadfast belief that I could improve inspired me to believe in myself. \u00a0He erased a fear of failure when it came to my work, and I began to look at his feedback as an opportunity to further develop my writing.\u00a0 He never sought perfection, but he could tell when I had more to give and encouraged me to do so. His kindness was always coupled with honesty, and to this day years later, I\u2019m grateful whenever I hear his voice in my head prompting me to dig deeper and to persevere on days when words don\u2019t come as easily. Through his passion, he showed how much joy can be found when a blank page turns into one filled with stories that were uniquely my own.<\/p>\n Another teacher who played a major role in my writing journey helped me fall in love with children\u2019s literature. In her class, we read everything from The Hobbit\u00a0<\/em>to The Hunger Games<\/em>, and her enthusiasm was contagious as she actively fostered discussions about characterization, theme, and overall enjoyment of the book. For someone like me who may not be the first to speak up in a larger classroom, she made each student feel comfortable to share our opinions by engaging us all in conversation. She led by example and together as a class, we grew into our own kind of book club.<\/p>\n Our final project was to develop an outline for our own novel. Though I\u2019d always been an avid reader, I hadn\u2019t yet considered writing my own work. This assignment sparked something inside me.\u00a0 It showed me how much fun it could be to let my imagination run wild and plot a beginning, middle, and an end. Though the prospect of sharing my own work still intimidated me, this teacher\u2019s enthusiasm gave me a deeper understanding of how fiction can be a bridge to bring people together and encourage conversations between individuals who may not have had the chance to previously interact. I came away from her class not only inspired by the power of fiction, but also with a deeper appreciation for each and every author out there, all of whom had been vulnerable enough to share their thoughts, dreams, and stories with the world.<\/p>\n These teachers showed me how important it is not to seek perfection, but they empowered me to believe that it\u2019s perfectly okay to make mistakes because it gives us a chance to grow.\u00a0It was their willingness to look at every class period as a gift to enlighten and challenge students that taught me how exciting it can be to learn something new. They encouraged me to find my own voice and by giving me the freedom to express myself, they opened up a whole new world for me.<\/p>\n To any teacher who may read this, thank you for what you do. We may not remember every word you speak, but we do remember how it feels when we accomplish something we never thought possible. We remember the times when you\u2019re patient, enthusiastic, encouraging, and demonstrate a heartfelt desire to help us discover our voices and share our stories.<\/p>\n More than anything, I\u2019ll remember your passion. And I promise you that is something I\u2019ll never forget.<\/p>\n -Lauren Mansy<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" In honor of Teacher Appreciation Week (May 6-10), we at Blink want to thank each person who works in the education profession. We know the work you do isn\u2019t always easy; however, the impact you have can be life-changing. In an effort to honor those who have shaped and molded us, each day this week […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2258","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news-notes"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n