Times Of Swaziland: TEACHER CRUSH NORMAL TEACHER CRUSH NORMAL ================================================================================ The Editor on 08/12/2017 00:57:00 Sir, On a regular basis, we wake up preparing for school to get vast knowledge in preparation for our dream careers. No one prepares himself or herself to have a crush on his or her teacher; crushes are completely natural and not to easy to handle but most of the time they are harmless. It can be fun aching for someone even if you know pursuing a relationship with them is just pointless. Sometimes, however, those feelings become obsessive and can lead to problems down the road. Having a crush is time consuming and distractive when it comes to academic work and therefore it is necessary to deal with it before any regrets. A harmless crush is no big deal, but thinking of acting on it is entering a dangerous territory. It is an undeniable fact that when you have a crush on your teacher, you are just anxious about him or her reciprocating to the way you feel. From me Welz, be careful; I have been in that position and the first step to healing starts when you admit that you have a crush on somebody, so understanding the problem is the first step in moving forward. It is also an unarguable fact that crushes are something that everyone experience at some point and the human brain is actually biologically programmed to fall in love. The second step to healing is allowing yourself to feel bad. Guys we all know that getting over a relationship is hard even if that relationship never fully materialised; just give yourself time to mop around and feel bad and then pick yourself up and move forward because it is not the end of the world. Furthermore, commit yourself to moving on and remember knowing that the relationship will not work out is an important step to moving past it. After all you are still going to have more crushes. Avoid thinking about your teacher romantically because thinking of him will increase chances of doing something you will later regret. Limit your interactions with your teacher because he might show great concern not about your feelings but your schoolwork; and there you will be interpreting things wrongly so keep away. Other possible solutions to your problem could be speaking to a licenced professional, talking to your pals, embark on extracurricular activities, pursue hobbies and renew old passions. Go somewhere new, try a new environment, different atmosphere; this teaches patience, self discipline, flexibility and perspective. Oh maybe, just maybe date someone new, someone of your league. Speaking about this may be humiliating so make sure you confide in people you trust. It is a well known fact that crushes are not planned but naturally develop in an individual and hard to deal with but guys we are at school to learn; teachers are there to impart knowledge and help us become better people, so let’s not ruin that by pursuing an impossible relationship. Our main focus should be aimed at pursuing our goals. Take compliments from your teacher as a sign of encouragement not as a sign of affection of any kind. Never try to confide to your teacher that you have the hots for him or her just save yourself from the humiliation; I mean spare yourself the embarrassment because you may never know what the answer could be. Welile Gamedze Mabhensane High