Perseverance by Christopher

Perseverance by Christopher - July 2014 Scholarship Essay

Since my earliest days of school, dating all the way back to when I did pre-k, my teachers have always in some way impacted my life beyond the subject. Sure, there were some that left only a minor change, and some who changed me for the worse, but generally there was always some change. My German teacher in high school, however, left a hugely positive impact on my life and helped to develop some of the habits that still are prevalent in my everyday life today, as well as helping to shape my general outlook on life.

When I entered Cy-Fair High School, I went through a really rough transitional phase, having switched school zones and thus leaving all of my friends from my middle and elementary school days behind. I signed up for German due to my family's ancestry (my mother emigrated to the U.S. just one year before I was born), and was a bit skeptical how that class would go. The first day that I went to the school was filled with misery, as I had no one to talk to while the other kids were discussing how their summers had gone, where their vacations took them, or what new and exciting adventures they went on, while I was left in the back of class having done none of this, and having a hard time talking to and meeting any new people. About mid way through the day, I stepped into Herr Bauske's classroom. Unbeknownst to me, that classroom would alter my worldview up until this very day, seven years later.

At Cy-Fair, German was not a particularly popular subject - there being one class for each level, with the exception being German I which had two classes. It was taught by one man, Herr Bauske, compared to Spanish which had about six separate teachers and multiple classes for every level. Despite this, Herr Bauske proved himself an excellent teacher who cares about both his students and his subject. Although he was noticeably affected by the subjects lack of popularity (having taught there for over fifteen years at this point, and witnessed firsthand the lower amounts of students enrolling in the course throughout this time), he still exuded passion for the German language and very clearly wanted a reinvigoration of German in the eyes of students. Whether it was simply learning the basics of grammar, or teaching the letters, Herr Bauske carefully and masterfully ensured that every student understood the fundamentals of the subject, provided of course they were willing to learn.

In my second year of German, I learned that not only was the second German I class getting cut, but also that German III and German IV were getting merged into one class. Herr Bauske met this decrease in classes and yet another impediment in his career and another blow to his subject by increasing the amount of passion and dedication in each of his lecture. Rather than concede to the blows his subject was taking, instead he met it with increased fervor. He incorporated more humor into his lessons, met the decrease in student load by increasing time spent with each individual student, and countered the shrinking of his classrooms by personally making it his mission to spread his joy of German.

Herr Bauske's perseverance to spread the German subject throughout Cy-Fair High School, despite every quantifiable metric telling him that his efforts were in vain, showed me that not only do things not always not go your way, but when things DON'T go your way, the best thing you can do is counter the negativity with positivity. Rather than succumb to the pressure when everyone is expecting you to fail due to circumstances that are seemingly out of your control, do whatever you can to take control and personally ensure that what you do is maximizing the chances of your goals. Herr Bauske might have been my teacher for but a couple of years, but his manner of teaching, fervor despite the odds being stacked against you, and general passion for what he does are all aspects that I have adopted into my own life, and values that I try to exercise on a daily basis.