"Artist as art educator" or "Art educator as artist"?

artist (noun):
"A person who is master of the liberal arts; a learned person"

Oxford Talking Dictionary, 1998

educator (noun):
"someone who educates young people"
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It didn't take long for me to decide, that I saw myself more as an educator than an artist; perhaps "art educator as aspiring artist", would be more apt.

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When Asst Prof Reaney posed the question to the tutorial group, during ECA 222 Contextualising Artworks, I was surrounded by tutorial mates who had accolades, exhibitions and illustrious achievements accredited by local and overseas art institutions, to their name. I on the other hand, had merely dabbled with Graphic Design, Batik Painting and Portraiture as a GCE 'A' Level art candidate.

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Could I, with my limited experience with art, possibly ever dream of assuming the label of "artist" - one who is "master of the liberal arts; a learned person" ?

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Certainly a tall order which I doubt I can truly attest to, at this juncture of my education.

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Nevertheless, my teaching practicum experience has taught me that I am far from being an "artist", as defined by the Oxford Talking Dictionary. Instead, it was in teaching the underprevileged lads from the rowdiest Normal Technical classes that I found my true passion, joy and niche in life, being an Art and English Language teacher.

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Teaching Practicum 2 has reaffirmed my convictions, and reminded me of my obligations to my students, as an educator. Hence, despite the agony, anger and disappointment in the first 3 weeks of the teaching practicum, the more my lessons went awry and the more students defied and swore at me, the more I was compelled to soldier on.

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Winston Churchill:
The pessimist sees difficulty in every opportunity. The optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty.

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Elbert Hubbard:
A failure is a man who has blundered but is not capable of cashing in on the experience.

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Havelock Ellis:
It is on our failures that we base a new and different and better success.

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Albert Schweitzer:
Success is not the key to happiness. Happiness is the key to success. If you love what you are doing, you will be successful

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“A good education is not so much one which prepares a man to succeed in the world, as one which enables him to sustain a failure.”
(Bernard Iddings Bell)