I'll Teach You "Cool-ture" by Annika

I'll Teach You "Cool-ture" by Annika - October 2016 Scholarship Essay

We are not the product of one belief or culture. We are all made up of years and years of the blending of peoples’ ideologies. To accept this and to let all those we don’t have in with an open mind, is when learning truly takes place.
I have taken Spanish all high school and some of middle school. While the majority of the time is spent learning how to speak the language, other times are spent learning about the culture. I have grown intellectually and maturity wise as I have learned that there are, in fact, other beliefs than what I am surrounded with everyday. Knowing how this has affected me, I would want to spread this feeling of knowing there is life outside of the United States to other students.
I think it is especially important that younger students know about other cultures. It becomes harder to open others’ minds as they get older and stuck in their beliefs. I would want to teach elementary school students about another language and culture if the roles were reversed. I don’t speak a second language fluently and have grown up in the United States with a typical life. However, in this reversed scenario I would have lived in another country for a while to experience their culture first hand. I am not saying I would be able to teach the students everything about living in another culture, due to not spending my entire life in another country, but I would continue to learn about the culture I am teaching along the way. Teachers who are willing to learn as they teach stand out. They are the people who were meant to be teachers, they are the learners of life who create the desire in their students to stay students past their graduation. If I were a teacher, I would prefer to be one who is willing to learn from her students.
My Spanish teacher during high school always had us discuss how Spanish speaking countries celebrated the holidays we celebrate in the US. Through those times, I was able to gain some understanding of others who did not grow up with the same culture I did. We were also able to grow our empathy as we saw how things that didn’t necessarily affect us here in the US had a serious affect on other countries. Our actions have reactions we don’t always see and I would love to teach young students this to curb their belief that they are isolated from the rest of the world.
To me, being a teacher is creating the desire for knowledge in students. All subjects are important in school, even math. They all teach different skills, problem solving, how to be clear, or how to throw a baseball. While I have found value in all the classes I have taken, the real world connection my Spanish class has taught me has influenced the way I think and the way I see those outside of the US. That class has created the hunger in me to learn more about others. If the roles were reversed, I would want to show my students that we become the product of what we choose to learn.