Last winter I went skiing with my family including my son who was in middle school. I took my son to the skiing school because of his interest in the trendy snow-boarding; thus, my intention was to have my son learn snow-boarding in the skiing school. However, after taking a look at the fee of the course he stepped back and told me he would try to learn it by himself. The fee seemed too expensive to him. I insisted that he take the course and he finally accepted my suggestion with much thanks. He learned snow-boarding all day from morning until the afternoon. Next day I was surprised to see that he was boarding smoothly like someone who had already a few years of experience. Although he took the lesson for a day only, he was even better than his elder sister. My daughter has been practicing snow-boarding by herself with her friends all winter long, without taking a skiing school course. Knowing that my daughter was also good at sports, I was shocked by the effect of learning with a good teacher. From this event I was enlightened, although it was hardly new, by the fact that having a good teacher is the most important thing in our life.
   According to ancient Chinese wisdom, king, teacher, and father should be treated with equal respect. It is easy to understand why king and father should be treated equally in an old monarchial system. However, I thought it was too much to position teacher equally with king or father. I told myself that the old saying simply meant that we should respect our teacher very much. However, as time goes by and experience accumulates, I get to realize that it does not simply mean to respect your teacher very much. A good teacher can help us learn something which would take a whole winter just throughout a day. Not only in sports, so does in academic studying or in business world or in any other fields of our living.  Teacher helps us reduce the time for learning, and practically extends our life time. Time is the most precious thing in our lives. Father gives us life. King gives us safety for our life and teacher practically extends our life. All three of them are equally important in our life.
   If we wish to have great lives, we had better have great teachers. Alexander the Great, fortunately had Aristotle as his teacher. However, not everyone should have an Aristotle to have a great life. Complaining that there is not a respectful teacher is self-acknowledging that we are having barren and unproductive lives. Around us, there exist many teachers who can give us valuable teachings and extend our lives. We should keep in mind that respecting teachers and putting value on their teachings are not for them but for us. We should not pretend to respect our teachers in front of other people in order to display our elegancy. Respecting our teachers is our expression of how much we love our lives and how precious the lives are.

Joo In-ki

(Prof., Dept. of Business Admin., Yonsei Univ.)