Teaching sometimes seems like not one profession, but every profession. We ask them to be doctor and diplomat, calf-herder, map-maker, wizard and watchman, electricians of the mind.

Sometimes justice is at its most merciful when it's blind.

Americans sometimes ask what the government does and where their tax money goes. Among other things, it pays for all kinds of invisible but essential safety nets and life belts and guardrails that are useless right up until the day they are priceless.

Most professional women I know - myself included - long since gave up looking for a rulebook or a roadmap; we make it up as we go along. Every day presents a new choice, a new challenge, which makes long-term career planning seem like an especially abstract exercise.

When you do that, you can give it your best. I'm proud of my profession and how teaching makes a difference in the lives you touch. I love what I do and I'm grateful for the opportunity to do it.

When they do understand, it is eye-opening because teaching is generally understood to be an underpaid profession.