Right now, you may have a future world leader sitting in your classroom. Nelson Mandela, Winston Churchill, Bill Gates, Alexander the Great, Richard Branson all had teachers who didn’t know it at the time, but who were instrumental in nurturing and developing these great minds.
Your significant and invaluable role as a teacher has a ripple effect across society, which affects the lives of millions of people.
I had two teachers who made a profound impact on my life. The first one was my primary-school teacher, Mrs McLaughlin. As a dyslexic, I struggled at school and Mrs McLaughlin didn’t know what to do with me. She put me in the regular reading class and I didn’t fare so well. So she put me in the remedial reading class and I still wasn’t coping.
Eventually, I was labelled a dunce and was made to wear a dunce hat with a fellow classmate, Darryl, who I think had brain injuries.
Mrs McLaughlin eventually called my parents and announced to them that I had a learning disability.
She said: “Mr and Mrs Demartini, I am afraid your son will never be able to read, write or communicate, never amount to anything and never go very far in life.”
By the age of 14, my hopes of getting a high-school education faded and I was tired of being bullied, so I quit school. I left my home in Texas, with my parents’ blessing, and headed for California and, eventually, Hawaii to become a full-time surfer. The next four years of my life became a hazy blend of homelessness, panhandling to survive, drugs, alcohol and surfing.
At the age of 17, while living in Hawaii, I met an elderly man named Paul Bragg, a well-known naturopath who revolutionised the American health food industry. He spent his elderly years travelling around the United States passing on his wisdom.
This amazing man was the second teacher to influence my life. He was the catalyst in awakening my unconscious desire to conquer my learning disability, get an education and make a difference in the world.
He made a statement to his class that resonated with me for the rest of my life.
He said: “You have a genius inside you; everyone does.” Nobody had ever told me that before. He spoke straight to my greatest void.
He explained the power of having a vision and the significance of our inner dialogue. He gave us some time to think about what we wanted to dedicate our life to and said that, whatever it was, it would become our destiny.
That was a heavy-duty thing to think about when my greatest ambition, at that time, was to surf, hang out on the beach and make surfboards.
Then it came to me and I knew what I wanted to dedicate my life to. I wanted to become a great healer, teacher and philosopher.
I wanted to set foot in every country on the face of the Earth, share my research and findings with people and make a great contribution to the world. I picked up my surfboard and returned home to Texas.
With dedicated focus and determined effort, I broke through my dyslexia and mastered reading and writing by initially studying 30 words a day from the dictionary. I attained an entry into Wharton Junior College.
I then progressed to the University of Houston where I completed a bachelor of science degree in 1978. I went on to study chiropractic at the Texas Chiropractic College where I graduated with honours, magna cum laude, in 1982.
Today I research, write, teach and travel full-time. I live the life I once envisioned back then in Bragg’s class. Bragg didn’t give me the genius I now believe I have inside me — but he did show me how to awaken it.
He believed in me more than I believed in myself.
Many would think otherwise, but Mrs McLaughlin’s words to my parents were to create the void in my life that set me on my path to achieve my destiny. She said I would never go very far and now I travel full-time.
She said I would never amount to anything. I have achieved a level of influence in many countries around the world.
I told my story to illustrate that there’s a genius inside all your students. If you determine what is most valuable to each one of them, you will awaken that genius and unleash potential for greatness that will have a ripple effect and impact on future societies.
Know that you have influence way beyond the four walls of your classroom. You have one of the most far reaching and important jobs and who knows how many potential Mandelas and Bransons you have sitting in your classroom today.
Dr John Demartini is founder of the Demartini Institute, and a human behavioural specialist, educator and internationally published author and consultant. For more information go to www.drdemartini.com