“You finally came back. But I don’t need you anymore.”

He turned to go.

“Wait! That’s it?”

He shrugged. “You said you don’t need me anymore.”

“I don’t need you anymore because you took so long to get here, and I figured it out myself.“

He smiled. “Right.”

“Right!? What’s that supposed to mean?”

“You figured out your problem, right?”

“Right.”

“You learned something, right?”

“Right.”

“You struggled a little doing it, right?”

“Right.”

He smiled. “So my job here is done.”

“What do you mean your job is done?”

“Look, you’re a student and I’m a teacher. Part of my job is to make sure that you can function without me. Part of my job is to make myself obsolete. Which means that part of your job is to struggle a little as you learn. If you don’t struggle, you aren’t really learning. Part of my job is to let you struggle. Make you struggle, in fact. So I don’t answer every question when your think you need it answered. I don’t answer every question with a straight answer. I don’t even answer every question. You might have noticed that sometimes I ignore your questions. Or pretend like I don’t understand. I make you explain what you’re trying to do. I make you use more words. Explain your question in such a way that you answer your own question. In fact, I’ve heard you many times say that you don’t need me once you’ve clarified your question to me. Which means that you’ve clarified it to yourself enough to come up with your own answer.”

The student’s jaw dropped. “You do all that on purpose?”

The teacher asked, “What do you think?”