Friday, July 18, 2014

yet another reason to ride

In my ESL class on Thursday, I was given yet another reason to keep riding my bike. We started the class with a 15-minute writing assignment. I wrote a few adjectives on the board and asked the students to write about one or more people who could be described by one or more of the adjectives. This type of assignment is always well-received. Since it's just a brief time of writing, the pressure is minimal; students know perfection is not expected. To be honest, I am not sure how well I would perform on such a task, but the students always do a bang-up job.

One of the adjectives I wrote was "energetic." I was surprised when a student from Ukraine  began to read, "My teacher Jane is a very energetic person..." As evidence, she cited the fact that I ride my bike to work every day, even in the winter, adding that I inspired her to start cycling, too.

Immediately after she finished reading, the Sri Lankan student stepped in. As a Buddhist monk, he is responsible for the spiritual guidance of his community. He said that he often uses me as an example to Sri Lankan-Canadians who complain about winter. He tells them about how his English teacher rides her bike all winter, even when the temperature is minus 40. 

Needless to say, I was had to blink back a few tears. When I first started bicycle commuting, I never dreamed that I would become a legend!

In reflecting on this, I remembered something that struck me when I read the Anne of Green Gables series while pregnant with my second son. 

Anne and her then-friend Gilbert are discussing their hopes for the future, and these are Anne's words: “I'd like to add some beauty to life... I don't exactly want to make people KNOW more... though I know that IS the noblest ambition... but I'd love to make them have a pleasanter time because of me... to have some little joy or happy thought that would never have existed if I hadn't been born."

My primary goal as an English teacher is of course to help students KNOW more English, and I've always felt lucky to have such a rewarding job, but if, from time to time, I can help people to be a little happier as well, I will consider myself extra lucky. 

No comments: