I am Mrs. Vriend

Every September, my classroom fills with students, and suddenly, I am transformed into “Mrs. Vriend.”  I respond more quickly to “Mrs. Vriend” than any other name, simply because I am called that countless times every day:

“Mrs. Vriend, can I go to the bathroom?”

            “Mrs. Vriend, can you come and look at this?”
                        “Mrs. Vriend, what does ‘wanton’ mean?”

                                    “Mrs. Vriend, what time does class get out?”

                                                “Mrs. Vriend, how did you meet your husband?”

                                                            And on and on and on it goes…

I am a teacher.  And I wouldn’t have it any other way.

I will admit that after college, I wasn’t so sure.  Can I really do this?  Do I even enjoy teaching?  Do I want to do homework every night for the rest of my life?

But thankfully, my loving husband convinced me that really, I needed to give this a try.  I applied for a job and received a position, and while the start was rough, it was just what I needed.

My job is by no means easy.  Some days, I wonder why I assigned 35 students essays that are now stacked up and waiting to be graded.  Some days, I wonder if I made any sense and if I at least sounded like I knew what I was talking about.  Some days, I am emotionally exhausted after giving of myself all day long, allowing each student to take the little piece of me they needed to keep going and learn that day.

But every day I get to teach the subject that I love to students that I love.  Every day, I get to travel around in books and teach students that semi-colons are the best punctuation mark ever invented.  Every day, I get to show my students the incredible world of words that God created for us to enjoy.  Every day, I get to see students enjoying learning and growing in their knowledge, individuality, and faith.

So give me the homework, the lesson plans, the essays.  I get to mold young adults into the people God created them to be.  And that is why they call me “Mrs. Vriend.”