Growing Up, Letting Go

It's been said that the greatest gift a parent can give a child is the ability to separate from the parent. It follows then that a child who is able to separate from the parent is a child who has been given a great gift from her parent.

I believe that the same holds true in the teacher/student relationship, that the greatest gift a teacher can give his student is the ability to separate from the teacher, to be independent from the teacher, to take what she has learned from the teacher and to put it to good use, separate and apart from the teacher.

A parent should not require that his child "twin" him, emulate him, be the same as him. Similarly, a teacher should not require that his student "twin" him, emulate him, be the same as him.

I'm not sure where I'm going with this, but I do know where it comes from. And no, Mom, it has nothing to do with you.

YC