Your Body of Work

// May 13th, 2009 // Comments

I was watching the President give a speech to a graduating class of 2009 tonite and it inspired me, as his speeches often do. The point was that the body of work that we put forth is never complete, nor is it diminished by time. The things we do, in our everyday, the little stones that we stack up do become a mountain and every action we take matters. As we strive to become better teachers, better learners, better people we must realize that our passion and our talent is not measured by one event or achievement, but by the body of work that we put forth. Good luck to all who are graduating, and starting the next phase of the journey, we support you and believe in you.

4 Responses to “Your Body of Work”

  1. Chris says:
    November 28, 2009 at 3:24 pm

    Throughout childhood, one of my mottos was “good enough”. Early on school was never that challenging, so I was able to meet expectations without achieving all that I could, so I strove for “good enough”. In chores and other things, I valued speed and ease above all, always settling for “good enough”. At the ripe age of 20, I feel that I’m finally starting to get this concept of continued improvement that our president was speaking of. It’s easy to do what is required to just be done and call it good, however failing to push yourself is cheating not only yourself, but those around you. I think this “whole body of work” ideal is found most in people who do what they are most passionate about. If you, as a teacher, take great pride in your teaching and truly enjoy it, it is much easier to dedicate yourself and immerse yourself in never being satisfied. Once you become satisfied, improvement stops, and NO ONE is that good. Not yet, and most likely never.

  2. David Changstrom says:
    December 10, 2009 at 2:07 pm

    I believe that the Body of Work concept is a good one to remember, particularly for those who have just passed major milestones in life. Whether they be graduating college, passing finals one semester, finishing a degree, or even something as simple as making it through a difficult week, continuing to drive forward and strive to accomplish more is a value that we should all share.

  3. Corey Friedli says:
    December 12, 2009 at 10:45 am

    You are exactly right. I think sometimes we get caught-up in single actions and fail to recognize all the things that we do that make us better. You say, “the little stones that we stack up become mountains.” I think that is a great analogy to not only the work we do as teachers, but also for students who we are working with, while at times their progress may seem like only a steeping stone, in the end, we help them accomplish climbing a mountain.

  4. Jessica says:
    March 28, 2010 at 1:34 pm

    I agree with you on the fact that what is important is not little things that we do but the whole big picture. I am a freshman in college and studying to be a math teacher. Sometimes I have a bad test score, and I will be upset about it, but then I realize that I have more tests and more work up ahead of me and behind me that were much better than that. I realize that I need to be proud of the fact that my work paid off in those instances. I may have not done well on that one test, but in the end, that test is not the whole of my grade. This may be a very narrow example of what you are saying, but I feel that it does fit. I work hard at everything I do in life and hope that in the end my life as a whole has been a success and that I am able to make a difference in the lives of others, though I may make mistakes or have some failures along the way.

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