When I was little, many people asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up, and I would answer, quite naturally, that I wanted to be a police officer.
In my family, everyone thought that police officers were respectable people. I remember that when I started kindergarten, my mother would tell us that if she couldn't pick us up from school one day, we should go to a police officer, who would know how to resolve the situation.
She also often told us that if we had any problems on the street or got lost, we should look for a police officer to help us.
At that time, I thought police officers were a kind of guardian angel who took care of children and the elderly. That was the image my childish mind had of police officers.
In those days, it was very easy to see them on the streets; there was always one near the traffic lights helping people cross the street. I always associated them with helping others.
With that idea in mind, it was only natural that when I grew up I wanted to be a police officer.
When I was older, just before adolescence, I decided I wanted to be an astronaut. Those were the years of the space race, and there was a lot of talk about the first humans who would go into space. I listened to those conversations and imagined myself as one of those people who would travel into outer space.
I remember asking everyone where in Venezuela you could study to become an astronaut, and no one knew how to answer me. Some looked at me strangely, as if I were asking an inappropriate question. Others told me with complete sincerity that you couldn't study that here.
When I reached adolescence, I began to see the police differently. I learned that they also had a repressive side, that they beat young students when they went out to protest. In those years, there were many student protests. Step by step, that childhood image disappeared, and I completely lost the desire to be a police officer.
But the idea of being an astronaut remained in my mind. Even during high school, I still thought I would like to study something related to space exploration. There was a university in Mérida, in western Venezuela, that offered a related degree, and I considered the possibility of studying there.
But when I graduated from high school, most universities had been closed due to political problems. There were very few options left for continuing my studies. Teaching was one of the few careers where I could continue studying. Under those circumstances, I decided to study to become a teacher.
At first, I didn't like the idea very much. I couldn't really imagine myself teaching other people. But I was very lucky to meet some very special teachers. The vast majority of my teachers were kind, studious, and very committed to their profession.
In their classes, I began to see teaching in a different light, as one of the greatest services that could be done for any society. Thanks to my teachers, I was able to understand the importance of preparing young people to be good and useful members of society.
Once I graduated and began working as a teacher, I realized that I had made a great choice. From the first day I stood in front of a group of students, I felt that I had chosen the right path, that I had not made a mistake.
For forty-five years, I dedicated myself to teaching, and I am still involved in it today. Those years in the classroom taught me a great deal and gave me a deep understanding of people. Sharing with so many different students made me a better man.
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Thank you for your time.
Translated with DeepL.com (free version).
Logo creado por @themanualbot
Hello Irvin. In your blogs, you often end with a link to the @silverbloggers.
The automatic formatting in Hive turns this text into a hyperlink that leads to an error page.
To prevent this, I recommend writing the link in one of the following two ways:
[Silverbloggers](https://peakd.com/@hive-106316)to get this version = SilverbloggersThanks for your consideration. Have an excellent day.
Ok. Thank you so much.