Today was my first day of student teaching. I showed up early, nervous as can be, and as I walked around the building, I met a bow-tied older gentleman who asked if I knew how to get into the building. I didn’t, as it was my first day as a student teacher, I explained. The older man then responded that he had done his student teaching many years ago. Since then he had gone on to become a teacher, then a principal, then a superintendent. That was where his explanation stopped, but I would later find out he was also a published author, had been a guest on Phil Donahue and The Today Show, and was also our guest speaker for the day. Yet for just this one moment we stood there as equals from opposite ends of the educational spectrum, one full of nerves and potential, one full of experience and wisdom, both in need of assistance to gain access to a middle school building. Amazing.