Friends of Education

Nancy Livingston—Why I Became a Teacher

What I’ve learned about teaching is that it is hard work—physically, mentally, and emotionally—and it is also very rewarding. I once had a student who called me “Mrs. Living“ instead of Mrs. Livingston, which was rewarding because at four o’clock in the afternoon I always felt more dead than living. I am dedicated to my profession. I can honestly say I have never been bored teaching and have received many rewards.

As teachers we worry about the child who doesn’t do well. One such student, Jeff, whose behavior was a daily challenge, brought me a bouquet of fresh flowers. As I thanked him, he said, “That’s okay. I just picked them up at the cemetery on my way to school.” That summer I took flowers to Jeff—for his funeral. He was killed riding his bicycle. As his mother sadly said to me, “He was a problem in school, wasn’t he?” I promised myself that no parent would ever feel that his or her child was a problem to me, and I have tried to keep that promise. Many children have learned that the world is not a loving place. A teacher may be the best thing that can happen to a student if that teacher nurtures while she teaches.

I’ve also learned that rewards may come a few years later when a former student writes a note thanking you for being her teacher and saying she remembers everything she learned and uses it now that she, too, is a teacher.

Today, as I help prepare future teachers, I am blessed to work with wonderful students. I have caught their enthusiasm and energy as I’ve watched their educational expertise grow. I have learned a lot and still have a lot to learn. I believe, as Heber J. Grant stated, “A teacher is engaged in one of the noblest and most splendid and remarkable labors that any person can be engaged in.”