nation builders.

Terrific address from President Obama last night. Among the comments of encouragement and national pride and patience and even a few little jokes, Obama made some great comments about education. Not going to lie: I felt a little warm and fuzzy when he said,

"Let's also remember that after parents, the biggest impact on a child's success comes from the man or woman at the front of the classroom. In South Korea, teachers are known as 'nation builders.' Here in America, it's time we treated the people who educate our children with the same level of respect. We want to reward good teachers and stop making excuses for bad ones. And over the next ten years, with so many Baby Boomers retiring from our classrooms, we want to prepare 100,000 new teachers in the fields of science, technology, engineering, and math.

In fact, to every young person listening tonight who's contemplating their career choice: If you want to make a difference in the life of our nation; if you want to make a difference in the life of a child - become a teacher. Your country needs you."

Naturally, I have anxieties about being a teacher: will I do it right? Will it be good enough? Will my efforts be appreciated? I'm not even going into any of the aforementioned fields - math, science, technology - but Obama's admiration for teachers reminded me last night that no matter how I do or who I teach, teaching is a noble profession in itself. I chose this career because I wanted to, not because I thought it would garner admiration. Yet when I am reminded about the huge responsibility that teachers have, I am that much more excited to jump in. I just really hope I can indeed live up to the standard of being a "nation builder."

Cheers to the many people in my life who are teachers or are on their way to becoming one.

For a full script of last night's state of the union, click here.