When I was in intermediate school, we had required courses and a limited number of optional classes.
Today I was thinking about my typing class. Yes, typing on a typewriter, with a ribbon, paper and even special Wite-out to correct typos.
My typing teacher insisted that “this class is very important since what you learn here will it will stay for life”. She was passionate about typing, walking rapidly up and down the classroom checking how everyone was performing on their lessons. Whenever she caught me looking at the typing keys she would announce to the class “we’ve got a looker”. My response to her was, “I can type 40 words a minute. Good enough.” Her answer was, “Never limit yourself. Learn to type correctly and you will type faster with less mistakes.”
As it turned out, my bad typing habits remained. The four-finger, stare-at-the-keyboard, hunt-and-peck method of typing I perfected in the 7th grade is still with me today…with a similar pace of about 40 words a minute.
Once in a while I type without looking at the keyboard, looking only at the screen. During those rare moments, it feels like I can fly. Usually at those moments, I remember her saying “we’ve got a looker” but today I remembered the more important point she was trying to make. That we should not limit ourselves.
So, to my 7th grade typing teacher I would like to say, thank you.
(Note: This last sentence was typed while looking only at the screen)