Today, people all over the world are celebrating World Teachers’ Day. Many of my friends and colleagues have shared pictures of their favorite teachers on different social media platforms.

Some have shared pictures of their parents, others have shared pictures of their teachers, while many have shared pictures of their role models and written that they are their favorite teachers.

Seeing all of these posts reminded me of the unconditional love and support my parents gave me throughout my education. Their love and support during my studies are unforgettable. But if I speak honestly, one thing is very clear to me: time has been my best teacher.

During my school years, I was a talented and hardworking student. Every year, I secured first position in my class. According to my teachers, I was a brilliant student. At that time, however, I did not fully understand my own potential.

Those were different times. There was no Google and no artificial intelligence to help us. We learned from books, while our teachers relied on guidebooks and dictionaries for additional help.

After completing my matriculation, my dream was to become an engineer. Unfortunately, at that time, I took admission to an intermediate college in a nearby city, but there was no mathematics teacher. Therefore, I had to switch to medical science. Later, due to financial difficulties, I was forced to leave my education incomplete.

That was the end of what seemed to be the dream of a talented young student. At just 16 years old, I left my education and started working as a daily-wage labourer.

At that point, I had only a matriculation certificate, no professional experience, and many dreams that seemed to have been shattered. But I did not give up.

I continued my education privately and completed my intermediate studies and eventually my master’s degree. I got married, but one dream was still alive in my heart: to study at a university.

After being away from education for a long time, I decided to start again. I took admission to an MPhil programme in Political Science. After a relatively short period, I completed my degree. This proved to me that time truly is the best teacher.

Today, while most people are celebrating World Teachers’ Day by remembering their favorite teachers, I am celebrating the greatest teacher in my own life: time.

Time taught me through failure, struggle, disappointment, patience, and success. It taught me that difficult times do not necessarily mean the end of a journey. Sometimes, they are preparing us for a better beginning.

When I look back at my journey, I realize that moving forward with time is valuable, but simply waiting for the right time can cost us valuable opportunities. We should keep moving, keep learning, and never stop believing in ourselves.

If your time is good, you can achieve many things. But even when your time is difficult, never lose hope. Nothing is impossible if you have courage, patience, determination, and the willingness to start again.

For me, time is not just a teacher. Time is my best teacher.