{"id":10376,"date":"2006-12-21T02:37:00","date_gmt":"2006-12-21T02:37:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/production.ou.org\/life\/other\/because_i_knew_you\/"},"modified":"2015-10-23T07:09:45","modified_gmt":"2015-10-23T12:09:45","slug":"because_i_knew_you","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/inspiration\/because_i_knew_you\/","title":{"rendered":"Because I Knew You"},"content":{"rendered":"<div style=\"float: left; padding-right: 5px;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/ou-images\/content\/applebecauseknewyou200.jpg\" alt=\"image\" width=\"200\" height=\"133\" name=\"image\" border=\"0\" \/><\/div>\n<p>This week I had an opportunity to use two little words, \u201cThank you\u201d in an unexpectedly meaningful context.<\/p>\n<p>During my usual speed-walk to the subway, I paused, recognizing the familiar face of a high school teacher. In an all too brief encounter, we updated each other on our current activities, and I proudly informed him that I now teach first grade Judaic Studies.<\/p>\n<p>We soon separated, pulled apart by tight schedules, but as I took my first steps I realized the thing I had not shared. Standing there on the windy avenue in Manhattan I called \u201cThank you\u201d across the widening distance between us.<\/p>\n<p>He paused.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFor what?\u201d was his immediate question, to which I replied across the wind, \u201cFor being my teacher.\u201d He looked at me for a moment, considering my words. Then understanding dawned, \u201cah, I see you understand.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>What exactly does he think I understand? As a teacher, the best part of my job is learning: about my students and my own strengths and abilities and how to help my charges grow into mature and confident adults with respectable knowledge and demeanor.<\/p>\n<p>Moreover, learning includes knowing when to say thank you to those whose help is invaluable on the path toward wisdom. Ethics of the Fathers teaches, \u201cWho is wise, one who learns from every person.\u201d It is a powerful tribute, during this time of holiday celebrations and gift exchanges, to recognize and thank those who support us in our development acknowledge their efforts on our behalf. Their aid is intangible, yet many times more valuable than material presents.<\/p>\n<p>With these thoughts in mind, I\u2019d like to address all of those who have given me the experiences and courage to become the person that I am today\u2014my parents, teachers, friends, colleagues, supervisors, students and their parents: as the hit Broadway show, <i>Wicked<\/i>, concludes: \u201cBecause I knew you, I have been changed for good.\u201d THANK YOU!<\/p>\n<p>May we all have meaningful holidays complete with the privilege of being able to appreciate the many blessings and lessons we continue to gain from those around us.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>This week I had an opportunity to use two little words, \u201cThank you\u201d in an unexpectedly meaningful context. During my usual speed-walk to the subway, I paused, recognizing the familiar face of a high school teacher. In an all too brief encounter, we updated each other on our current activities, and I proudly informed him<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":167,"featured_media":49292,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_cloudinary_featured_overwrite":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[85],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10376","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-inspiration"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v24.9 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Because I Knew You - OU Life<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Recognizing the familiar face of a high school teacher, I had an opportunity to use two little words, \u201cThank you\u201d in an unexpectedly meaningful context\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/inspiration\/because_i_knew_you\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Because I Knew You - 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