The Student

As I walked home from Tae Kwon Do practice, I was thinking about how much I enjoy it, even though doing Tae Kwon Do means being among the students, the ones I teach and the ones I ultimately need a break from at the end of the day. But at practice it’s different because I’m not the one in charge, I’m not the teacher. At practice there’s no one looking to me for the answer, or more accurately, speaking to me, calling me, prodding me. There’s no one relying on me to show them the right way. There’s no one who thinks I should know. At Tae Kwon Do practice, I’m just like them – I’m a student.

And at the end of a teaching day, that’s sometimes what I need more than anything. I need to be led. I need to be directed. I need to be shown the way. I need to be taught.

Thank god for Sir Phuntsho, black belt master (or whatever the formal Tae Kwon Do title would be), and his soft spoken voice, his calm direction.

I realized again that I love being a student. So much more than being a teacher. I want to learn. I want to be on the other side of the desk, the other side of the questions. On the last day of my thirtieth year, I’m reminded of who I prefer to be – not a teacher, but an eternal learner.