“Who wrote this letter?” she asked in a stern tone, glaring down her spectacles at me.

My headmistress Miss Howard had called me to the front of the class.

I intrepidly walked to the front naively wondering if the cane was in force.

All this while my heart thumped my chest from within.

She was the strictest and most revered teacher in Heath Town CoE Primary School, Wolverhampton, UK (now called Trinity, CoE Primary School).

I had written and fraudulently signed a letter of sickness on behalf of my mother (because she couldn’t write in English).

I told Miss Howard I had written it, praying she wouldn’t realise I’d counterfeited my mother’s signature too.

I thought I’d been caught out but suddenly she asked, “where did you get this word ‘influenza‘?”

With a deep intake of air, I told her it came from my pocket dictionary (which my father had given me).

Then, with a glowing smile and soft but firm tone she praised me in a crescendo, “well done, well done…WELL DONE”.

In a remarkable twist, she seemed to be impressed and overjoyed. Was it because I knew the medical term for the flu? (At that time, I didn’t honestly fully know the difference between a cold and the flu).

Now gazing deep into my eyes, she paused then told me something that would stay with me for the rest of my life.

“Learn just one new word a day and you will go far.” -Miss Howard.

At the time I thought okay and what does go far even mean. Insidiously, it started to make me wonder…

That ‘one new word a day’ translated into new thoughts, ideas, concepts, mechanisms, perceptions, perspectives, voices, networks, breaking things down into their simplest units, consistency, good habits, continuous learning and much more.

In its simplest form, the habit she indoctrinated is that of continuous life-long learning.

Now over 30 years ago, and she is still the best teacher I ever had. I don’t know if she could have had any idea of the compounding effect of a few words of advice and encouragement.

She taught me many great things. However, in just this one sentence she had given an abundance of gifts: a great habit and the courage to follow through with what would have a ‘butterfly effect’ throughout my whole life.

I don’t know where she is or if I’ll even be able to see her again to show my gratitude, but I will always be grateful to her for the transformation that day and for being the best teacher I ever had.

I have been teaching for many years now but this is one of the reasons I decided to teach.

I know if I could just do even for one person what Miss Howard did for me I could make an incredible impact on someone’s life.

“We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give.”- Winston Churchill.

Great teachers do more than just teach; they inspire and change peoples’ lives, forever.

Biography:

Dr Jasbir Rattu is a Consultant Industrial Pharmacist EU Qualified Person (QP), Coach, Mentor and Trusted Advisor for multiple organisations (e.g. companies, universities, charities) in Pharmaceutical Biotechnology and Advanced Therapy Medicinal Products (ATMPs).

He is also the Director of CeutiQus and leader of The BioPharmaceutiQals Academy which teaches all critical aspects of Pharmaceutical Biotechnology and Advanced Therapy Medicinal Products (ATMPs).

The BioPharmaceutiQals Academy Masterclass (BAM) is a NEW Masterclass education series on the fundamentals of Pharmaceutical Biotechnology.

https://biopharmaceutiqalsacademy.mykajabi.com/BAM1

It teaches you the most important fundamentals that you need to start to accelerate your progress in your career or mission in just 9 days, with the right amount of time in between the teaching Masterclasses to allow you to apply and implement what you’ve learned into your workplace.

To learn more about the BioPharmaceutiQals Academy Masterclass (BAM) series course click here:

https://biopharmaceutiqalsacademy.mykajabi.com/BAM1

Dr Jasbir Rattu

CeutiQus

Innovating Quality Medicines Intelligently

www.CeutiQus.com