Accretionary Wedge #44: Most Important Teacher

On one hand, I seriously considered passing over this Accretionary Wedge, feeling that I didn't have anything interesting or unique to contribute.  On the other hand, I've been dreaming of opening a blog and contributing to the Accretionary Wedge for four or five years.  Fortunately, I changed my mind because the answer to the question of who or what my most important teacher was, geologically speaking, hit me like a bolt of lightning.  Unfortunately, the path to realizing that my goal in life is to be a geologist was more circuitous than my path to entering the Wedge.