Light Bulb Moments

I truly have a love for learning, to opening my mind to new ideas, and to expanding my set of knowledge. However, even more powerful than learning is that moment when it all clicks; when your mind is no longer clouded with confusion and questions, but instead you can confidently say, “I’ve got this!” I refer to these times as light bulb moments and have often found that few things are as beautiful and rewarding. It is a joy to experience a light bulb moment yourself, but it is a gift to lead others to theirs. For me, that’s at the essence of why I’m pursuing teaching. I got my first taste of this working as a volunteer teacher assistant six years ago. Remember the good ol’ days of multiplication families and time tables? Well take yourself back to that time and envision a class of third-graders, full of energy, excited to learn, but also all at various levels of comprehension. The teacher, being quite observant, noticed that one little girl in particular was falling behind the rest of the class, struggling to grasp the basic concepts of multiplication. Multiplication was not the exciting venture it was for her fellow classmates, but was rather met with apprehension and defeat. The teacher had me pull her aside to work one-on-one in hopes that our interaction would lead to her increased confidence and strengthened abilities. It was not a snap of the fingers fix by any means, but I watched over time our efforts yield significant progress and results.  I was able to witness the gears turning in her mind; her tapping her pencil or jotting things down as she tried to make sense of the information for herself; that perplexed look on her face that was eventually followed by raised eyebrows, a big grin, and the ultimate look of accomplishment in her eyes. Like I said before, both beautiful and rewarding. While one light bulb moment may not seem like much by itself, add up each individual instance in addition to the encouragement and support that pushes a student to further develop their progress and that is enough to turn a small child into an empowered individual over time. This is what keeps me moving towards this dream of mine every day!