Credit where credit is due 🙂 It’s always good to find inspiration in others, because it offers us the chance to be influenced by examples that are highly positive. My personal choices include several key figures… some of them totally unknown to the great public like Simo Pietiläinen, a man who helped a father recover his kidnapped son, knowing that he would lose his job and have troubles with the law of several countries. It takes great courage and a lot of integrity to realize that doing the right thing GOES FIRST, even if it means losing your job or facing legal consequences in the process 😮
But today I will focus mostly on a teaching legend, whose name is David Attenborough. For those of you who don’t know him… a good description would be: “Remember those documentaries where a man who seemed to be genetically engineered to be the perfect English gentleman, was explaining us with a flawless speech and unrivaled complicity how the natural world works? Well… that’s David Attenborough. No, not the nice old man from Jurassic Park… that’s his brother… awesome family, apparently 🙂
Ever since I was a child I have been in awe whenever he appeared on TV. His way of explaining things is a great mixture of empathy, passion for what he does, and an inclusive tone that makes you think he is speaking to you personally 😀 “Yes David! You are right! Let’s discover more about that penguin and his egg! Oh no! There’s a sea lion! Let’s do something David!!!” His documentaries for me are like an adult version of Dora the explorer. 
I believe he is a good example to any teacher because of several reasons that, as always, are comfortably presented to you in accurate points:
1. David knows much more than you and I about nature, biology etc. and yet, he explains everything to us with the right approach… That one which lets you know it’s OK if you were unaware about the smallest chameleon in the world is living in Madagascar… He is happy to explain it to you with a smile.
2. He has been dynamic and intelligent throughout his career. You can check his biography… He adapted to color TV, he discovered Monty Python, he was a pioneer on almost anything he did for television (we are talking about the 1950s so… yes, basically he invented format after format… 90% of the cool BBC programs came from his brain) 🙂
3. He stopped his professional career to study a postgraduate degree when he was almost 40. You might say: “But Rick, that’s normal… isn’t it?” Nah! It’s commendable (such a nice word 😀 ) to stop everything when you are at the top of your profession and say: “I want to learn more… be right back, BBC”.
4. He rejected the offer of directing the BBC… in order to keep filming 🙂 Which shows the scope of his intelligence… he went after what made him happy and became even greater at it. That’s, in my opinion, the right kind of ambition… Ambition for happiness.
I could spend hours and hours praising this man for everything he has done for us as viewers and human beings, but I have limited space 🙁 I will only say that it’s a great feeling to have a hero since you were a little kid, to see that decades later he keeps inspiring you to be a better teacher, and a better person. Thank you for everything, David!!! 😀
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