Patience can make or break a teacher; consider the following examples:

• The first time a student struggles while others want to get through the assignment
• The ever-evolving battle of classroom management
• The realization that three years of lectures are now obsolete and need to be remade
• The endless forms, regulations, training, seminars, webinars, assessments, observations, and reviews
• The implementation of new technology that is routinely phased and replaced
• The grind from tutor to adjunct to associate

Much like a nurse without crisis management skills, the realization will quickly set in that an error in career choice was made if an educator lacks patience.

Teachers may not always feel patient. I know I have lost my patience during trying moments, but no other career path exemplifies the concept of patience better than education.

Time itself slows for an instructor. Where many jobs provide tasks to be completed in a week or day, educators live in a world of semesters. This is a world where careful planning is followed by laborious execution and capped off with in-depth assessment.

It is fitting that the mother of all virtues is the most important trait for the mother of all other professions.

Continue to be patient, my friends.