Life in teaching is strange, in multiple ways. You go through a lot of perspiration, not knowing how the students will receive the preparation. After the class, sometimes there is exhilaration, and sometimes, frustration.
But there are many moments that make you thankful about having chosen to teach, rather than sell soap (note, I have nothing against the soap-makers- they are doing a brilliant job of keeping us clean). Or being a politician. It requires too much energy, for one.
The quiet contemplation is one big plus. (Reading is another). Always being on tenterhooks as you prepare for the next class (not calling it a lecture, deliberately. I think the Last Lecture was delivered a few years ago).
Planning an activity, an exam or an assignment was my big thing. Most classes, in the last few years, my talk time was about 50 percent of the class duration, or less. In Ph.D. seminar courses, it was around 5 percent.
Watching students grow, if you are fortunate to keep in touch, is a joy in itself. I love alumni parties or meetups for this reason. Not just academically, but you can see a person shaping up, from a raw student whom you met a few years before.
Cheers to students, and teachers. Both invaluable.
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