Today, I want to use my column in celebrating and helping you celebrate our TEACHERS. Firstly, I want to help you remember by asking you these simple questions.

Would you be able to read my write up at all if it hadn’t been your teacher who sweated it out that you knew your A to Z? Some of us, our friends and we ourselves believed we were dullards. But these teachers kept trying. Remember?

Ok? What is 6multiplied by 6 divided by 6? You sabi answer abi? (Don’t laugh) Do you know how long it took you to remember the multiplication table? 7 times, 8 times, 9 times… Chai! Me sef hated them.

Let me share with you this story before I go, my teacher in Primary 5 saw that the whole class was excellent with Dictations, so she said… Hey class! It’s time for dictations. Number 1, she said TAWEL (As she pronounced it though), the whole class spelt it as pronounced except me, I was quite smart though (Laughs). The whole class scored 9 over 10 except me; I went home with a brand new pencil. I can never forget how kingly I felt going home and how much I can’t forget that very day till this day. That teachers name is Mrs. Adewunmi.

Read through these 10 quotes, it helped me brew back those memories and it can help you appreciate them better.

1. “Anyone who teaches me deserves my respect, honoring and attention.” Sonia Rumzi
2. “Bitter are the roots of study, but how sweet their fruit.” Cato
3. “I am indebted to my father for living, but to my teacher for living well” Alexander the Great
4. “In teaching you cannot see the fruit of a day’s work. It is invisible and remains so, maybe for twenty years.” Jacques Barzun
5. “Teachers open the door. You enter by yourself.” Chinese proverb
6. ”Often, when I am reading a good book, I stop and thank my teacher.” Anonymous
7. “Teaching is the profession that teaches all the other professions.” Anonymous
8. “A good teacher is like a candle: it consumes itself to light the way for others.” Anonymous
9. Teachers can change lives with just the right mix of chalk and challenges. Joyce Meyer
10. Most of us end up with no more than five or six people who remember us. Teachers have thousands of people who remember them for the rest of their lives. Andy Rooney

 Our teachers deserve to be remembered and deserve to be proud. They aren’t perfect but they gave their all, especially the best ones. I celebrate all of whom made me so smart by foundation, made my accent prime by flogging out my wrong pronunciations and made my esteem so cool by appreciation.

Mind you, my primary 2 teacher was the first to tell me… “Adeshope, you are handsome, tell your mum I said that”. I heard it first from my teacher and not even my parents. I have not forgotten till today.

I celebrate my teachers!

And proudly, today I can say that I am a Management Consultant and Corporate Trainer.

I am reachable at haastrupsteven@gmail.com

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Share this as much as you can till you know you have put a smile on a teachers face. Happy Eid-El-Kabir. Happy Holiday!

Have a great week ahead.