Sharing the Passion by Alexandria

Sharing the Passion by Alexandria - October 2016 Scholarship Essay

I’ve always loved school; for as long as I can remember, I’ve been enchanted by the idea of learning. When I was a little kid I’d stay up reading all night, trying to cram as much knowledge into my head as possible. I’d ask my parents enough questions to drive them mad, and if they didn’t know the answers I’d just look them up myself. I had an unquenchable hunger for knowing everything, and even to this day, I’m not full.
However, when you get to know and learn as much as I did, you will inevitably feel the need to share it with others. Now, instead of annoying my parents with questions, I annoy them and everyone else with answers. In the blink of an eye, I could educate anyone on why wildfires can actually be good for the environment, or give them a detailed summary of the life cycle of Pacific salmon, or discuss with them how pronghorn antelope evolved to outrun a predator that’s now been extinct for ten thousand years.
If you didn’t notice, all those subjects have one thing in common: nature. I was born with a passion for the world around us, how it works and why it is how it is. I’m fairly certain most other high school sophomores don’t know or don’t care to know about salmon eggs and antelope evolution, but it intrigues me so terribly deeply. Even if they don’t care, that won’t stop me from raving about it any chance I get.
However, I’m fairly sure a class of equally enamored students would be a much more fitting audience than my own friends and classmates. I’ve always toyed with the idea of becoming a teacher, but every time I dismiss the thought under the pretense that it wouldn’t be the perfect fit for me, given that I can be a bit shy at times. However, if I were to teach a class, I know without a doubt which subject I would choose to instruct: ecology. The study of how the different components of an ecosystem, both living and nonliving, affect and influence each other. I can just imagine myself out in the field with a group of wide-eyed and excited students watching as I showed them a tree afflicted with bark beetles or a creek teeming with tadpoles.
Of course, fish, frogs, and fires tend not to interest most people in the slightest. If anything, I can only see this fact encouraging me to educate, giving me the incentive to spark passion in those without. I’d love nothing more than to see people gain a deeper understanding or even love for the world around us, and for this I’d simply delight at the chance to educate people on how the fields and forests have a life all their own, as well as give them the chance to pass on that knowledge to anyone who’ll listen- even if it might annoy their friends a tad.