I’m dealing with a unique situation with a trainee at work. The challenge of it has reminded me of my old desire to be a teacher.
Is that your shocked face? Yes, yours truly started out wanting to be a teacher…science to be specific. I gave up on the idea after seeing how often teachers are paid and treated. It still rankles me to no end how we idolize sports players but treat the true role models in our formative years like a disposable commodity.
While I ultimately gave up on that career, I’ve carried those skills and desires across all the jobs in my life, including my current one. I’ve been a CTO [1]certified train officer here for most of my career. I often feel most rewarded when helping someone, who truly struggles, to master the skills necessary to do this line of work. We aren’t a traditional learning environment, so all the better. The demands are high and the time line is finite, so knowing I can help others is important to me.
My current trainee is a remedial of sorts. [2]I had him for his first rotation of three. He excels in the basic core functions. He’s quick with computers, a fast typist, and not at all dense. However, he keeps getting right to the edge and missing the mark on key components. After reviewing his training logs and speaking with his other trainers, I couldn’t fathom why he was still struggling. It didn’t add up.
After a few days together again, it dawned on me what he was doing. I completely restructured his lesson plan and so far it’s working. I was surprised with myself afterwards because I was so giddy and excited about it. I guess I’d forgotten that feeling. I don’t train as often as I used to because it takes a lot out of me. I invest myself in the process and the person. I’m older now and my stamina is just reduced. However, seeing him improve has lifted my spirits at work and reminded me why I chose this career.
I bring it up today as lately, I’m sure like many of you, I struggle to find joy in the world around me. I’m not prone to depression but trying to be aware of current events while simultaneously trying to filter out the sheer sadness of it all is a struggle. So finding a bright spot in my work was a delightful surprise.
I’m fond of saying, “teaching a thing and knowing a thing or two entirely different skills.” I’m grateful to be good at both in my job. I’m grateful I can help others to be better, which in turn helps better my community. Its not on a world events scale, but even little victories are a victory.
I encourage you to find those little victories in life to keep you going. It’s going to be a rough 4 years but I’m hopeful we’ll get thru it.
Hope springs eternal…