Calling all teachers

i know it's cliche, but educating is a calling. not a job, not a profession, not a career. but a calling. particularly more so in this day and age. and i have never understood that till now.

of course, there are lots of teachers around who do not educate. they merely instruct. some might teach. but to educate and inspire. that is a calling. why?

because to do that, one has to cast aside one's own aspirations, think solely of the best interests of the students. yet, how often have we seen students become pawns of teachers'/HOD's/principals' struggles for promotion? how often have we seen teachers more concerned about how much performance bonus they are going to get instead of how far their students are going to go in life(or even if they are concerned about the latter, it's only because that would affect one's performance bonus and promotion...)?

and it is difficult to stay out of this stupid race, this silly game of chess in this day and age of rising demands for material wealth. it is so difficult to hold true to the ideals of educating the student for the best interests of the students, casting oneself aside. it's almost like the struggle between Howard Roark and Peter Keating in Fountainhead only worse.

and i vascillate. i am Roark and Keating, entwined, struggling.