Without Mr. T., Where Would I Be? by Drake

Without Mr. T., Where Would I Be? by Drake - July 2014 Scholarship Essay

Which teacher of mine has positively affected my attitude toward education? The answer to that would have to be a man named Brian Tonnell, a retired United States Air Force pilot. He taught all subjects in our homeschool group, which throughout high school included Latin, History, Math, Science, Logic, Literature, Drama, Philosophy, and Theology, and he instructed us very well in these subjects. I studied under Brian Tonnell my sophomore through senior years in high school. Brian Tonnell taught our homeschool group once a week on Tuesdays, as we accomplished the rest of our assignments on our own, Wednesday through Monday. Because of Brian Tonnell, or Mr. T, as we called him, my attitude toward education has changed in three ways. Now, I look forward to the knowledge and wisdom gained from education, and the ability to communicate these ideas. Also, my mindset toward schooling has changed, because from Mr. T I have learned task and priority management. Lastly, my attitude toward education has changed positively, as Mr. T displayed that school can, in fact, be fun.

How did Mr. T change my attitude toward education, and help me realize how amazing it is to learn ideas, and be able to communicate them? Well, Mr. T had a knack for being able to connect all of the different ideas learned in each subject. Not a few times we would find ourselves discussing Charles Darwin and his ideas of microevolution and macroevolution not just in Science, but also in Theology. At other times, in Literature, we would remember our study of U.S. History, and ponder about how the self motivated heroic mentality of the Ancient Greeks is very much alive in the modern day United States culture. These are a couple examples of ideas that display Mr. T’s style of teaching. Learning these things and communicating them has made me excited about school, and changed my attitude toward education. Also, Mr. T helped me learn an important life skill.

Mr. T changed my mindset toward school, by showing me how to prioritize my assignments and subjects. Personally, this was a hard thing for me to do. To be honest, I’d rather spend more time on History or Theology, rather than on Science. But as Science would take the longest amount of time for me, and was the most difficult, I realized from Mr. T that Science needed to require more of my time and effort than History did. Without the advice and direction of Mr. T, my education then, and in the future, would be much more difficult. As I've learned the life skill of task and priority management, my attitude toward education has been affected positively, and I’ve realized my school can be accomplished. But there was one more thing Mr. T did that helped shape my view of education.

Lastly, Mr. T has positively shifted my attitude toward education, by showing that school can be a joy to experience. With his wit thrown into our interesting Ancient Literature, and his hilarious examples of sentences tossed into our Latin, and refreshingly real relaxed, and often funny look at History, school was no longer a horrible chore. With Mr. T as my teacher, I’ve realized school can be fun, and even exciting.

If Mr. T wasn’t my homeschool teacher throughout high school, I wouldn’t have learned nearly as much, and my attitude towards my school wouldn’t be as positive. By teaching me ideas, and displaying how to communicate those ideas, showing me how to prioritize and manage my school, and being his witty, fun self while teaching, Mr. T has positively affected my disposition towards school. I don’t know where I’d be without Mr. T.