Compounds of Integrity by Cassandra

Compounds of Integrity by Cassandra - July 2016 Scholarship Essay

Many can argue that today’s educational system is lacking humanity and practicality and in place is a capitalistic-like business mentality, created to churn out the maximal amount of informed young adults. With improvements to the subjects taught, there is still information that has been depleted from the current educational system. Good teachers are harder to find now, seeing the rigorous changes to the schooling systems, which have caused a lack of enthusiasm to teach and connect. I am a lucky individual that was fortunate to be instructed by quite a few brilliant teachers from another generation that instilled in me some vital life lessons. One lesson in particular that stands out is my lesson on integrity. It is easy to teach a child not to cheat or to be a good honest person but in light of the competitive climate with in academia, it is a exceptional find in this world to have an individual be drive by this desire to abide by such basic true morals and to keep a certain amount of honor intact.

Mr. Jones, a high school chemistry teacher, is a teacher that garners respect from all his students; successful in chemistry or not. He teaches an extremely informative simple chemistry class in which everyone, science enthusiast or not, can learn and pass this basic high school requirement. His cool demeanor that allows for jokes to be made and fun to be had all while learning a challenging difficult subject is what has students request his class year after year. For these reasons, he also quietly demands and receives a huge amount of respect from his students year after year. What makes this person, and this lesson in particular, so unique is the way in which he re-instilled a common lesson and made his student not only listen but want to live up to those standards. Mr. Jones give a similar speech every year he has taught but with the same genuine sincerity as the first year with his first class. He speech he is roughly as follows: “You don’t have to be good at chemistry. Heck, you could even fail my class but you must try. If you try and you are honest, I’ll to help you. You must be honest and have integrity in your work. Be a good person, and we’ll get you through this.”

This simple speech is what I live by to this day. I know that through his wise words he has shaped generations of children so eager to compete that they often forget what it means to ‘win’ or be ‘the best’ fairly. It is with his words I have worked hard, kept true to myself, and I have accomplished all of my goals such as obtaining a BSc in Biology, studying abroad in England, travel around the world, and even living and teaching in China. Although my life has been full it is not to say it has been with out hardship and difficult decisions but time after time my heart always returns to this simple yet poignant. I have developed my work ethic, endurance, and cunning through his idea of integrity because it truly is that much sweeter to accomplish a goal with out having to compromise your integrity in the process. Through teachers and individuals such as Mr. Timothy Jones, I believe that the future generations still hold a chance to change this world for the better.