I never thought I'd be a teacher. On the first day of class, my nerves prevented me from walking to my assigned classroom.

I stopped every three steps in the hallway to check that I had everything with me: markers, eraser, videos, the list of students, pencils, pens, a small bottle of water and a notebook where I had written down the order in which I would start presenting my ideas for the Venezuelan Film course.

The university corridor seemed very long that day. Absorbed in my thoughts, I was walking without any face being know.

I arrived 5 minutes before the class started. I looked at my clean shoes and tucked in my blouse. I wanted to be well looked after.

I took a deep breath before I opened the door and finally walked in.

There were 15 students and they were all there. I put my materials on the desk for the teacher and sat down saying out loud - Good morning students!

Some responded to the greeting but most were talking to each other.

I quickly observed where the TV and video equipment were that would be my main tools for watching the movies.

I took another deep breath. My hands were shaking and my voice never came out of my throat again.

There was an uncomfortable silence. All the students were looking at me and I was looking at them but there were no words.

I got out of my chair and walked to a window on the right side of the room. I saw the square full of students walking, running, screaming, or talking. Everything was confusing in my head.

I turned in on myself and went back to the desk.

I took a page of paper and wrote the following title on it: Venezuelan Film - Names of Students. I gave it to a girl who was sitting at the first desk near the desk.

I sat down and watched the girl write on the sheet and then passed it to the student next to her and so on, all the students wrote their names and returned the page to me.

I looked at them without saying a word. I got up from my chair, grabbed everything on my desk and said, "I'm Helen, your Venezuelan film teacher. See you next week".

I walked to the door, opened it and walked out. I felt like I had come back to life. My heart was pounding as I took long steps to get to my office quickly.

A student stopped me and said - this is the first time you are going to teach?

Yes, "I answered".

The boy smiled politely and then said, "Now I understand! See you next week".

He walked to the square he had seen through the classroom window.

I smiled.

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May 2020, Original story @marcybetancourt