How I Met My Teacher by Edward

How I Met My Teacher by Edward - November 2013 Scholarship Essay

Kids, on the week of my International Baccaulaureate (IB) Physics exam I had an enormous problem that turned me into a nervous wreck. The time for IB exams had finally arrived, and I wasn't sure if I was fully prepared. Scratch that, I wasn't sure if I was prepared at all. If I didn't get a strong grade on the physics exam, my chances of earning my IB diploma would plunge into the ground and my past few years of hard work would be all for naught. I went to my physics teacher and friend, Mr. Adams, with my concern and we sat down together to talk about it. Before class, after class, and even during the brief lunchtime we had, he would take the time to teach me useful techniques on how to solve equations quickly and allocate my test time efficiently. After I took the exam and got a near-perfect score, I realized how much time he'd spent with me and how lucky I was to have had his help over the past several days. I wondered, what did I do to deserve his time and attention? But after I excitedly told him about my exam score, he grinned and winked at me. And then I remembered.

So let's go back a year from this moment to the first few weeks of physics class. We were usually assigned readings for each day of class, and Mr. Adams would go over the textbook material in his lectures and ask us questions as he went along. I poured over the book diligently each night, not wanting to slack off and fall behind in class. But I didn't like raising my hand and answering questions because of the attention I would draw from the rest of the students, so I usually kept to myself. During the third week of school, he wrote a kinematics problem on the board about the trajectory of a thrown baseball over time. As usual, he asked us to try and solve it on our own before he explained it thoroughly.

"So class, what's the maximum height of the ball on this graph?"

There was a long silence, and I knew nobody else had read the chapter on kinematics and parametric equations because of the horribly difficult English test we had had the same day. Not wanting to leave him hanging awkwardly, I quickly typed in the numbers on my graphing calculator and raised my hand.

"Uh, 21 feet?" I ventured timidly.

It turned out to be the right answer. "Exactly, that's right!" he exclaimed.

And then he smiled and winked at me. I didn't really know him well back then, but that wink sold me. I felt like there was a wall between us that had shattered, and I felt more comfortable asking questions and talking to him after class. Eventually we became friends, and whenever I had a question about physics or even about life in general I would go straight to him before anyone else. If I was confused about the latest chapter on magnetism, needed a recommendation letter for a high school internship, or just wanted to chat for a bit, he was there. That special, relaxing yet inspiring wink brought me back to the memory of the first time I really connected with him. I didn't realize it at the time, but establishing a close rapport with my teacher was the most valuable experience I had in high school. I learned the lesson that your teacher is there to help you succeed, not to dish out bad grades. He or she wants to see you to excel, and all you have to do in return is reach out your hand and clasp theirs.

So remember kids, learn to get to know your teachers in high school and later in college too. You never know when they'll be willing to go through the effort to lend you a hand when you need it the most.