They heard! They suspected! They knew!

     Walking into to Mr. Baker's classroom this afternoon, I am transported back to my eighth grade self. He is teaching the class about Edgar Allen Poe's "Tell Tale Heart." His enthusiasm for the story has not wavered in the five years since I first sat here and heard him read it aloud.

     Now I'm not sitting at a student desk though. I am not part of the class. I am an outside observer. Sitting at Mr. Baker's desk I look to my left and on the wall I see a quote from Longfellow's "A Psalm of Life" blown up on a poster and mounted to the wall-- just like the time I first saw it. It stuck with me then, and obviously (see the name of my blog) it still sticks with me.

     When I arrived at the school this afternoon, I was issued a very official visitor pass. Seeing my name next to the word "visitor" and looking back on my time here I feel old. But no doubt I will look back on how young I was today and feel old. Hell, I remember being the age of these kids and feeling so old. 

     Watching Mr. Baker teach and interact with these pint-sized people, I assert silently to myself that his talent as an educator is wasted on a middle school classroom. Because surely his lecture is worthy of a college audience, as opposed to little kids who can't fully grasp his teachings.

     But then I remember when I was one of those little kids. And I listened and hung on every word. And how while sitting in this classroom, my outlook on English and school in general was changed forever. If I hadn't had Mr. Baker till college, I would have still greatly appreciated and learned from his class. 

     But now I'm in college, having already learned from his class.

     And I'm a better student because of it.