Every teacher probably asks himself time and again: What are the reasons for choosing teaching as a career? Do the rewards teaching outweigh the trying comments? Answering these questions is not a simple task. Let's see what the author says.

Why I Teach

Peter G. Beidler

　　Why do you teach? My friend asked the question when I told him that I didn't want to be considered for an administrative position. He was puzzled that I did not want what was obviously a "step up" toward what all Americans are taught to want when they grow up: money and power.

　　Certainly I don't teach because teaching is easy for me. Teaching is the most difficult of the various ways I have attempted to earn my living: mechanic, carpenter, writer. For me, teaching is a red-eye, sweaty-palm, sinking-stomach profession. Red-eye, because I never feel ready to teach no matter how late I stay up preparing. Sweaty-palm, because I'm always nervous before I enter the classroom, sure that I will be found out for the fool that I am. Sinking-stomach, because I leave the classroom an hour later convinced that I was even more boring than usual.

　　Nor do I teach because I think I know answers, or because I have knowledge I feel compelled to share. Sometimes I am amazed that my students actually take notes on what I say in class!

　　Why, then, do I teach?

　　I teach because I like the pace of the academic calendar. June, July, and August offer an opportunity for reflection, research and writing.

　　I teach because teaching is a profession built on change. When the material is the same, I change —— and, more important, my students change.

　　I teach because I like the freedom to make my own mistakes, to learn my own lessons, to stimulate myself and my students. As a teacher, I'm my own boss. If I want my freshmen to learn to write by creating their own textbook, who is to say I can't? Such courses may be huge failures, but we can all learn from failures.

　　I teach because I like to ask questions that students must struggle to answer. The world is full of right answers to bad questions. While teaching, I sometimes find good questions.

　　I teach because I enjoy finding ways of getting myself and my students out of the ivory tower and into the real world. I once taught a course called "Self-Reliance in a Technological Society." My 15 students read Emerson, Thoreau, and Huxley. They kept diaries. They wrote term papers.

　　But we also set up a corporation, borrowed money, purchased a run-down house and practiced self-reliance by renovating it. At the end of the semester, we would the house, repaid our loan, paid or taxes, and distributed the profits among the group.

　　So teaching gives me pace, and variety, and challenge, and the opportunity to keep on learning.

　　I have left out, however, the most important reasons why I teach.

　　One is Vicky. My first doctoral student, Vicky was an energetic student who labored at her dissertation on a little-known 14th century poet. She wrote articles and sent them off to learned journals. She did it all herself, with an occasional nudge from me. But I was there when she finished her dissertation, learned that her articles were accepted, got a job and won a fellowship to Harvard working on a book developing ideas she'd first had as my student.

　　Another reason is George, who started as an engineering student, then switched to English because he decided he liked people better than things.

　　There is Jeanne, who left college, but was brought back by her classmates because they wanted her to see the end of the self-reliance house project. I was here when she came back. I was there when she told me that she later became interested in the urban poor and went on to become a civil rights lawyer.

　　There is Jacqui, a cleaning woman who knows more by intuition than most of us learn by analysis. Jacqui has decided to finish high school and go to college.

　　These are the real reasons I teach, these people who grow and change in front of me. Being a teacher is being present at the creation, when the clay begins to breathe.

　　A "promotion" out of teaching would give me money and power. But I have money. I get paid to do what I enjoy: reading, talking with people, and asking question like, "What is the point of being rich?"

　　And I have power. I have the power to nudge, to fan sparks, to suggest books, to point out a pathway. What other power matters?

　　But teaching offers something besides money and power: it offers love. Not only the love of learning and of books and ideas, but also the love that a teacher feels for that rare student who walks into a teacher's life and begins to breathe. Perhaps love is the wrong word: magic might be better.

　　I teach because, being around people who are beginning to breathe, I occasionally find myself catching my breath with them.

　　NEW WORDS

　　administrative

　　a.  of the management of affairs 行政的，管理的

　　administration

　　n.  管理（部门），行政（机关）

　　puzzle

　　vt. fill with doubt and confusion 使迷惑

　　step （-） up

　　n.  promotion; increase in size, speed, etc.

　　mechanic

　　n.  skilled workman, esp. one who uses or repairs machines and tools 机械工；机修工

　　sweaty

　　a.  covered with sweat, sweating

　　palm

　　a.  手掌

　　profession

　　n.  occupation, esp. one requiring special training, such as law, medicine, or teaching

　　convince

　　vt. make （sb.） feel certain; cause （sb.） to realize

　　compel

　　vt. force （sb. or sth. to do sth.）

　　pace

　　n.  rate or speed of development, or in walking, etc. 速度；步速

　　calendar

　　n.  日程表，日历

　　opportunity

　　n.  favourable occasion or chance

　　reflection

　　n.  careful thinking; consideration 深思；考虑

　　reflect vi.

　　stimulate

　　vt. encourage; excite 刺激；激励

　　freshman

　　n.  student in his first year at a college or university

　　failure

　　n.  a person, attempt, or thing that fails; lack of success

　　ivory

　　n.  象牙

　　ivory tower

　　n.  place or condition of retreat from the world of action into a world of ideas and dreams 象牙塔

　　self-reliance

　　n.  ability to do things and make decisions by oneself 依靠自己；自力更生

　　reliance

　　n.  trust, confidence; dependence 信赖；信心；依靠

　　technological

　　a.  of or related to technology 技术的

　　corporation

　　n.  （AmE） 有限公司

　　run-down

　　a.  old and broken or in bad condition

　　renovate

　　vt. restore （old buildings, oil paintings, etc.） to a former, better state 修复，修整

　　semester

　　n.  （AmE） either of the two periods into which a school year is divided; term 学期

　　repay

　　vt. pay back （money, etc.）

　　loan

　　n.  sth. lent, esp. a sum of money 借出的东西；贷款

　　distribute

　　vt. divide among several or many; give or send out 分发；分送

　　distribution n.

　　variety

　　n.  difference in quality, type or character; a number of or a collection of different things 变化，多样化；种种

　　challenge

　　n.  the quality of demanding competitive action, interest, or though 挑战

　　doctoral

　　a.  having to do with the university degree of doctor 博士的

　　energetic

　　a.  vigorous 精力充沛

　　dissertation

　　n.  （学位）论文

　　poet

　　n.  one who writes poetry

　　learned

　　a.  showing or requiring much knowledge 博学的

　　journal

　　n.  magazine or daily newspaper 杂志；日报

　　occasional

　　a.  happening from time to time, not regular 偶尔的，间或的

　　nudge

　　n.  （fig.） words, actions or feeling that stimulate 启示

　　vt. push or touch slightly, esp. with the elbow to attract attention; （fig.） stimulate

　　fellowship

　　n.  position or a sum of money granted to a person for advanced study or research 研究员职位；研究员薪金

　　switch

　　vt. change or shift; turn

　　urban

　　a.  of a town or city

　　civil rights

　　n.  the rights of a citizen without regard to his race, religion, sex, etc. 公民权

　　lawyer

　　n.  person who practises law 律师

　　intuition

　　n.  （power of） the immediate understanding of truths, events, facts without reasoning 直觉

　　analysis

　　n.  the separation of a substance into parts for careful examination and study 分析

　　creation

　　n.  act of creating; sth. created 创造（物）

　　clay

　　n.  粘士

　　point

　　n. main idea or purpose 要点；意义，目的

　　pathway

　　n. path

　　rare

　　a.  unusually good; distinctive 稀有的；杰出的

　　magic

　　n.  mysterious charm; strange influence or power; art of obtaining mysterious results by tricks 魔力；魔术

　　PHRASES & EXPRESSIONS

　　stay up

　　not go to bed until after the usual time 不睡觉，熬夜

　　take notes

　　记笔记

　　build on

　　base on; use as a base for further development

　　keep a diary

　　记日记

　　leave out

　　fail to mention or include; omit

　　send off

　　post; dispatch

　　work at/ on

　　give one's attention to doing or trying to do

　　catch one's breath

　　rest and get back one's normal breath, as after running; stop breathing for a moment from surprise, fear, shock, etc.

　　PROPER NAMES

　　Emerson

　　爱默生（姓氏及男子名）

　　Thoreau

　　梭洛（姓氏）

　　Huxley

　　赫胥黎（姓氏）

　　Vicky

　　维基（女子名，Victoria 的昵称）

　　Harvard

　　哈佛（美国大学名）

　　Jeanne

　　珍妮（女子名）

　　Jacqui

　　杰基（女子名，Jacqueline的昵称）