I never imagined myself standing in front of a classroom, explaining poetry to a group of energetic middle schoolers or listening to endless stories that begin with, “Ma’am, you know what happened yesterday?” As a child, my world revolved around books. I loved crime thrillers. Writers like Dan Brown made me fall deeply in love with mysteries, hidden clues, and the thrilling world of criminology. For years, I dreamed of pursuing an MSW in Criminology and Justice and imagined myself solving cases or working in the field of criminal investigation.
Life, however, had different plans for me and that dream quietly slipped away. At one point, I believed I had lost the path I was meant to walk on. But somewhere along the way, life gently placed me inside a classroom, and that unexpected turn became the most meaningful chapter of my story.
Today, as teacher, and strangely enough, I have fallen in love all over again – not with mysteries this time, but with tiny hearts and curious eyes that look at me every single day with wonder, excitement, and sometimes absolute mischief. Teaching middle school children is not always about innocence and neatly completed homework. It is also about surprise questions, forgotten notebooks, dramatic friendships, sudden laughter, and occasional minor heart attacks when the classroom suddenly becomes too quiet.
Yet, within that chaos lies something beautiful. Teaching has taught me patience, purpose, and the joy of seva – serving with love. I may not have become the criminologist I once dreamed of being, but I discovered something even more fulfilling: the privilege of shaping young minds and growing alongside them every day.
Gopika Menon Kizhedath
