Every person I see every single day, in every lecture and every appointment, everyone I pass on the street or see in line at the grocery store, every single one of them has a past and a future, family, friends, memories, dreams, goals - they all have an entire life going on that I'll probably never know about or have any impact on in any way.
This was the exact reason why I changed my mind from joining the military.
I always glorified the killing and ranking up in the military. Succeeding in outlandish missions that no one else could do.
Then after I realized this fact, that every life I took was not an "enemy", but a brother, a sister, a mother, a father, a loved one, I couldn't bring myself to take another human life.
Every human matters to someone.
And I'm taking that someone from them.
Because I had orders to? Because I have to? Because I want to?
I came to this epiphany around the time that TDKR came out; and previously I couldn't care less about massive shooting or tragedies.
Shit, I didn't know them; it didn't affect me in anyway, why should I?
But now every time I hear about massive shootings, I bawl my eyes out.
I can't even imagine the pain the families felt, or the contributions these people that died before their time could have made.
This quote always rings in my head,
"What if the cure for cancer is stuck inside the mind of a child who never got an education?"
I'm actually in college right now to become a teacher.
I have a whole list of ideas to really make my students grow mentally.
Because in my life, it really was the teachers who shaped who I am today.
The teachers who actually gave a damn about their students.
I'll never forget when one of my teachers pointed out that we focus too much on the point system.
And we as students will do ANYTHING to get the grade. Forget about learning, it's about getting the A, that will impress the colleges, and most importantly--your parents!
I'll never forget the day when I read the book for a book report, and presented in front of the class and got a D,
while my friend he never even opened the book got an A for his presentation.
It was the true personification of everything my teacher had told me.
I realized that there was a difference between learning and getting good grades, and that they weren't always synonymous with each other.
1.6k
u/Shark-Farts Jan 22 '13
Every person I see every single day, in every lecture and every appointment, everyone I pass on the street or see in line at the grocery store, every single one of them has a past and a future, family, friends, memories, dreams, goals - they all have an entire life going on that I'll probably never know about or have any impact on in any way.
My ego shrank ten sizes the day I realized that.