The End

I'm back in Iowa, and Houston and MacArthur already seem like so long ago. When people ask me how my student teaching experience was I smile and tell them it was amazing, leaving it at that. It's hard to tell a story sometimes-- it's hard to covey the feelings I have for my students, the respect I have for Mr. Arkadie and Miss Fish, and the emotions that forever be tied to the MacArthur ag room to people looking for a short answer on how the last four months of my life played out.

My last day of teaching was a very special one. I walked into the room after running an errand to find a pizza party, cake, and letters and cards waiting for me. Students filtered in and out of the party during their lunch hour and I slowly began to say goodbye to the students that had become my entire life. One student even made me a quilt that is covered in Farmall tractors and all the other students signed it in fabric paint. I am so touched that these students put so much work into it. While I was packing it to make the trip home I finally took the time to lay it out and read what all the students had wrote, and started to get choked up.

I know that in three years I won't remember the lessons I taught, but I'll remember the comments that were made and the questions that were asked. I won't remember the names of all my students, but I will remember their smiles and how happy they made me. I know I won't remember all of Arkadie's one-liners, but I will never forget the days he kept me laughing when I felt like giving up. I am most thankful for he and Miss Fish. They taught me the most about being a teacher and a friend to students, and providing students with opportunities they might not otherwise have. They made Texas feel like home, despite being 1000 miles from Iowa.

I'm not sure I changed any lives in my 14-week stint as a student teacher, but thankfully the students at this school changed mine. My perspective on teaching has changed, my idea of a teacher is completely different, and my passion for life, and agriculture, and teaching is reborn.

While I may never dance or teach in Texas again, I'll be doing both in boots I bought in Houston and lessons I learned at MacArthur.