The Most BESTEST Feeling a Teacher Can Ever Have!!!!:)

So the best part of Sports Day hands down was Kritika (Senior Girl) coming in second in the 400 meter!!! Now usually one gets excited for winning an event, but not this time!!! In practices before Sports Day, Kritika asked me to time her and give her some running tips about the 400 meter race!!! I watched her run and noticed she would always get tired after the first lap!! So I told her, Kritika you're starting off way too fast and on race day it will be worse cause of racer anxiety!! Your time should be slower on your first lap than second!! So the next day I saw her she reversed it, ran a couple seconds slower and faster on her second lap and improved her time by 5 seconds!! The smile she had on her face when I told her her faster time was priceless!! Definitely made my day!!:) So the last day of practice before Sports Day, she showed up one last time determined to master the 400!!!! It was obvious she was MOST concerned about this event!! I told her, okay for race day on Friday, you want to shoot around 44-45 seconds on your first lap, then really turn it on on your second lap!! Shooting for a time around 1:27!! So 45 seconds first lap, 42 seconds second lap!! She understood and I knew she believed she could do it, there was a definite confidence in her!! Race day comes and she comes up to me, looking very nervous for the race!! She asks, what if I keep my pace and all of the other racers are out in front!! I said, Kritika do not worry about the other racers, you know how to run your race so run it like we've been practicing!! "On your mark.......set.......GO" race starts and what do you know ALL but 1 of the racers are in front of Kritika 3/4 around the first lap!! I'm like crap she's going to give in and try and catch them and not run her race, BUT she does NOT!!!!!!!!!!! I look at the lap time on her first lap, it could not have been any more perfect it was 44 seconds EXACTLY!! I knew this was going to be her best race!!! Coming around the first turn on the second lap she is getting stronger while the others are fading!! BOOM passes 1 girl, THEN another, THEN another, all of a sudden she's in 2nd, coming from 5th!! Coming around the last turn she was on PERFECT pace!!! Crosses the finish line AT................1:25!!! Her best time yet!!!!!:) She had the BIGGEST SMILE ON HER FACE!!!! She found me afterwards and thanked me like a thousand times!!! I was sooooo freakin proud of her, trying to hold back some little tears!!!!!! The way she was smiling and proud of herself was the BEST thing I could ever witness as a teacher/coach!!!!!!! For other people, this may be some minor event, but as a teacher this is why we become one!!!!!!!!!!:) No money in the world could replace that moment right there!!!! AND on top of that, her second place in the 400 mt. solidified her the I.H. Championship for all Senior girls!!!! An award that goes to the TOP points earner in their division!!!!! Her face when accepting that award was also priceless!!!!!!!!! She was on cloud nine, and it could not have gone to a better recipient!!!!!!!!:) So ending on a note like that was amazing!!!!:) Definitely keeps me going as a teacher and reminds me why I am one to begin with!!! Moments like that come so rare for teachers now-a-days, that once you get one all of the hardwork and long hours at school payoff, even if it's a single moment like that!!!!!:)