Some have taken the recent sexual assault at the middle school campus as a sign that something needs to change: whether that the school should strengthen its security, or that the culture of sexual assault in this country has persisted far too long. The school has certainly responded to these claims, and is undertaking reforms of the security system.

But regardless of what additional significance you impute to it, the incident is indisputably a sign of one thing that has remained constant throughout the school’s years: the absolute dedication of our teachers.

The teacher who survived this assault had been on campus early in order to prepare for the school day. Even though it was the first day back from a long December break—even though she was by no means required to come to work early—this teacher nevertheless devoted her time by her own initiative to further her students’ education.

Her dedication was clearly apparent to the police who responded to the assault. As San Jose Police Department Chief of Police Edgardo Garcia said in a livestreamed press conference on Facebook about the assault, “for a teacher to have the diligence to be inside her classroom early to get her work done—there’s absolutely nothing that she did wrong.”

We should thus admire not only the survivor’s strength in this trying time, but also the industry and charity that she has always embodied.

Though the student body is always grateful for the effort that our teachers put towards our education, we may not always express our gratitude concretely or sufficiently.

As students, we should consider more often the sacrifices that teachers make for our education, and the nobility of those who seek to spread knowledge and cultivate the minds of future generations.

This piece was originally published in the pages of The Winged Post on February 5, 2018.