"What's in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet; so Romeo would, were he not Romeo call'd, retain that dear perfection which he owes without that title."
A few years ago, when I was teaching 9th grade, one of the administrators asked, "Why do we still teach Romeo and Juliet? It is just a story about two horny teenagers, that was written by an ancient, dead, white man." Although I can understand what she was trying to tell me, I was so sad that she didn't know how many universal, timeless, and modernly-applicable treasures were hidden- by that ancient, dead, white guy- in his drama that taught us about selfishness in motives and desires, pain of pride, evils of stereotypical identifications, loyalty in friendships, and destruction through deception.
One of the major themes of Romeo and Juliet is that labels can determine one's fate. The drama implies that the labels themselves do not determine the fate, but rather how people think and act towards someone due to his/her label can be a determining factor of what happens to a person in his/her life. In the case of Romeo, his fate was affected because he had the label of the last name of Montague. Anyone with the label of Montague was not allowed to associate with anyone who had the label of Capulet. Not only were they not allowed to associate with a Capulet, but they actually were supposed to harbor and act of out hate towards them. It had nothing to do with what an individual looked like, his/her race, or personality. The name association determined who they could love and who they were supposed to hate.
So, when Romeo, a Montague, fell "in love" (I put this in quotations because there is much doubt about how their feelings should be defined. However, this is an entirely different lesson.) with Juliet, a Capulet, and she fell "in love" with him, their names presented quite a, as Shakespeare puts it, "death-marked" problem. Their titles determined their realities.
On a much, much less dramatic, but nonetheless similar note, I have had quite the title reality-check yesterday. I had to write a new title on an application. In "occupation," I didn't write teacher. It was very strange that I felt both freedom and sadness for the replacement of a title I associated with myself, so deeply, for so long.
I felt freedom because I know how much that title defined me (from myself and from others). It was difficult for me to know who I was without that title. For a while, it was almost as if I needed to get to know myself all over again, so that I could have some knowledge of who I was without that title.
However, I felt sadness because I really loved my time as a teacher. It was what I was supposed to do when I was supposed to do it, and I felt the truth in that fact with every fiber of my being.
Many of the experiences that helped shape who I have become were because I was a teacher. I met people who wouldn't have been in my life if I was not a teacher. I learned things that I wouldn't have learned if I was not a teacher. A big part of my life's experiences revolved around the fact that I was a teacher.
It wasn't until I became something other than a teacher that I realized that, even though the term hold a special place as what I've done, I am so much more than a teacher. Over the past month, I have learned things about myself that I didn't know I had in me. I have embraced this time to learn and develop these qualities, and I know that I am where I need to be in order to do so.
Similarly, as Juliet pointed out, if I called a rose something else, it would not change the characteristics of the rose. The rose would look the same, smell the same, and be the same- even if I chose to call it something else. Without the title of teacher, I still have the same qualities that make me who I am.
There might be a day when I again will have the title of teacher, but I know that, even though I don't have that title, I still am who I am. Who I am is someone who likes to serve others. That is why I loved teaching. That is why I love what I am doing now. It provides a humbling, very quiet confidence to know that, any title I have now or in the future will not change that.
*Dedicated to Miss Rose, whose family inspired today's entry by solidifying for me that I am where I need to be, in this moment in time.
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