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As a graduate of Brigham Young University with a degree in Communications, I went on to pursue a long, successful career in television advertising sales. I loved my clients, my bosses, and I really relished the life of a road warrior, negotiating my way across country doing business with a mantra of “a city a day.”
After several reminders that life is short, and we are not guaranteed a number of tomorrows, I sat on a runway in Minneapolis waiting to de-ice at 3 in the morning, and thought about where I would make my contribution to society. I found myself writing lists of lessons I could teach children if I went into the classroom, and I suddenly became inspired to follow my heart. I gave up my six-figure income in order to give something back to my community, and I am richer for it.
Once I convinced my boss to finally accept my resignation, I went on to earn my Teaching Credential from San Francisco State University and am now currently teaching English Language Arts to seventh-graders.
In California, this is the year that students must perform proficiently on a surprise essay topic for the state. In addition to showing proficiency on standards based assessments, this particular writing score helps to place students in 9th grade English when they get to high school. One day, in the midst of being entrenched in teaching standards, and igniting passion from 12 year olds to embrace a love of learning, a challenge at best, a letter was delivered to my room, written by a former student who was now in her sophomore year of high school.
On this especially bad day at work, when in a moment of contemplation as to whether I made the right decision to leave corporate America, I ripped open this letter to discover something more than being a heartfelt thank you from a former student to her teacher. Her sincerity inspired me to think about the teachers who made an impact on my life. They might be equally surprised to know that what students learn in the classroom may have nothing to do with our lesson plans.
This is how the story of Heroes Don’t Always Wear Capes was born. The note card? Framed in rosewood and on the wall behind my teacher desk so I can smile if I ever have another bad day.
Happy Reading,
Stefania Shaffer
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