A Critical Thinker by Danika

A Critical Thinker by Danika - March 2023 Scholarship Essay

The person who had the biggest impact on my education was my AP Physics 1 teacher, Mr. Reynolds. He made it known coming into the class that it would not be easy, and many people chose to drop it as soon as they could once they found his words to be true. However, no matter how challenging the content of his class was, he worked with my peers and I tirelessly, striving for our understanding and success. His goal was to create better thinkers, ones who could look at things through a different lens to succeed, to come up with new ideas and new perspectives. I was no stranger to struggle in that class, and I wanted to give up, over and over. Trial and error is an understatement to my experience, as there was only error as far as I could see. Even while my grade continued to drop and my frustration grew, Mr. Reynolds never let go of the potential he saw inside of me. He made deals with me, about the things I needed to do to raise my grades, and offered help at all hours of the day. I was spending three hours a day in his classroom, and each time my hand went into the air, he was there in a second, whiteboard marker in hand to walk me through the problem or point out my limiting error.
Truly, he wanted us all to succeed, and he was willing to do whatever it took for us to achieve, customized to an individual person. He made deals with me, rewrote retakes for countless units, and let me take tests past his usual time limit, as my hard work was slowly beginning to pay off and he saw how close I was to turning the corner. His genuine belief that I could be successful was sometimes the only thing that pushed me to continue my efforts, during moments when it seemed easiest to stop trying. As long as we were willing to keep trying, he was willing to keep pushing us.
Late in the semester, the only thing I wanted in that class was a B. If I could pull through with a B, I would be happy. One of the deals he made with me was if I got a higher score on my final than my current grade, he would replace it, no questions asked. It was a long shot, but I continued to go into his class whenever I could, redoing old homework and I was beginning to see results. My 1s turned into 2s, and as I watched him mark off my paper, I could see fewer and fewer red Xs through problems.
On the day of the final, I had the lowest possible C, but I still had retakes to spare that I could take after the final, if needed to push me over the edge. As he graded each section of my test, I tried not to hover, but when I saw him flip to the final page, I held my breath. He checked off the last problem, saying, “You won’t have to come in tomorrow, Dani”, showing me the mark on my paper. B.
That grade was a hard fought battle, with its fair share of tears and discouragement. Mr. Reynolds pushed me through to the end, and I’m not sure I would’ve seen the success I wanted without his encouragement and his determination to see me succeed. I came out of the class the critical thinker he desired to create, and a better person and student because of it. Mr. Reynolds taught me more than physics- he taught me about believing in myself, the importance of perseverance, and that sometimes, perfection looks like a B.