I have been teaching professionally since the beginning of 2009, but really I have been teaching in one form or another my entire life.  I try to get my students to realize that they are teachers as well as students.  I try to get them to realize that in some things, they are the expert and they can use that to enhance their learning experience. Life experiences can help you to reach out to others in a very meaningful way.  Those experiences can, if you let them, make you into a stronger and better person that can then help others pull themselves up when they can't see a way out of their situation.