Leroy Fearon | Born to teach: When a birthday meets a calling

There are birthdays we celebrate with cake, candles and photographs. Then there are birthdays that invite us to pause and ask a deeper question: What have I done with the life I have been given?

For me, October 5 carries a significance that is difficult to put into words. It is my birthday. It is also World Teachers’ Day. Perhaps that is more than coincidence. Perhaps it is a reminder of the calling that has shaped much of my life: I was born to teach.

Teaching, for me, has never been simply a job. It has been a vocation, a responsibility and, increasingly, a way of serving society. From the classroom to teacher education, from academic leadership to research, writing and public engagement, the common thread has remained education.