Mr. Charlick’s Best Lesson by Danielle

Mr. Charlick’s Best Lesson by Danielle - June 2019 Scholarship Essay

My favorite teacher is definitely Mr. Charlick. He was my AICE Biology teacher in my junior year of high school. He was not everyone’s favorite, some said he was mean, gave to much homework, and his class was way too hard. I, on the other hand, didn’t see him or his class that way. I saw him as a teacher who was trying to prepare his students for the college classes we would be taking in the future. He was there to help better the students, not just teach us the content of Biology and then send us on our way. Mr. Charlick was a dedicated teacher he made sure we knew the “oops I forgot my homework can I turn it in tomorrow” act wasn’t going to fly anymore. He wanted us to apply ourselves when doing the work rather than doing enough to get by.
The most valuable lesson Mr. Charlick taught me is that even when you think you’ve done your best, keep pushing yourself, moving the bar higher and higher each time. There are so many people out there that “work hard” on projects, papers, and other assignments but still don’t truly give it their all. It is easy to settle, doing enough to get the A on the assignment then calling it quits. This is exactly what Mr. Charlick urged against, he wanted all his students to hold themselves to a higher standard. Instead of working for the grade, work to better yourself. I found that the more engaged I was in the assignment, the more I learned about the topic it was on.
The way that Mr. Charlick graded assignments in his class enforced his lesson of always striving to do better than last time. One thing that Charlick’s grading taught me was that I could have measured every line, dotted every I, and crossed every T but there could still be more to improve. This was what aggravated most students about Mr. Charlick’s class because what they did on one assignment that got them an A, didn’t get them the A on similar assignments. This is because Charlick doesn’t like to settle, he would always say “Yes, you did a great job last time, but don’t settle for just what gets you an A, go further”.
Those words have stuck with me through every college class that I have taken so far at the University of Florida. I strive to push myself further and further past the bar I once had set for myself. Out of all my high school classes and high school teachers, Mr. Charlick and his AICE Biology class had prepared me the most for my college journey. I still touch base with Mr. Charlick from time to time to see how he is and to let him know how much he has impacted me and how thankful I am for the lessons he has taught me.