“You want me to do what?”
“I would like hire you as a private tutor.”
“Really? I am happy to do it for free.”
“Yes, I know. However, I also know that if I hire you as a tutor that your approach and how it is received will be very different. I want the positive outcome. Are you interested in taking the job?”
In the end, I took the assignment. At the time I thought it was quite unusual. Why would you hire your child’s boy/girl-friend as a tutor?
I am still struck by Penny’s wisdom. She knew we would enjoy spending time together. She also knew that I would take any job seriously. She would be my first student. I had a vested interest in her success.
I am not sure who learned more that summer. Yes, she did well in her summer school session. Her Chemistry grade ended up better than mine! I know the lessons learned have stayed with me far longer than the formulas and chemistry insights did. In reflection, I have always felt that I learned more than she did that summer.
One of the best ways to expand your understanding of something is to teach others about it. You have to see the material at hand from multiple perspectives. The questions will change how and why you one understand the subject.
In sharing what you know you will begin to see more. As you think you are giving the final insight into the subject, the gift of having students will be more. It is in sharing that you begin to understand the more.
It is in teaching that you become a real student. Paul gave us his perspective. “It was as Jesus helped me proclaim God’s Message to you that I became your father. I’m not, you know, asking you to do anything I’m not already doing myself.” (1 Corinthians 4.16)
Teaching is sharing. In action we open ourselves to more. Life ensures we are always full. It is a combination that changes one from the insight out.
