Preparation from Passion by Jamie

Preparation from Passion by Jamie - July 2019 Scholarship Essay

In every classroom there is the student who has a desire to learn everything. This may or may not be the same student that is perfectly organized and has a color-coded planner for every minute of their life. There is also the student that does well even though they rarely pay attention or show up to class. There are the students that would rather be anywhere else but here and make that known. But then, there is a group of students, larger than one might believe, that really want to learn, to understand the materials and ask the big questions, but they simply cannot get it. These students should ask for help, but they seem to struggle to get these questions that they need out. This particular type of student strives to learn, but struggles, like most of us do at one thing or another. Now whether they struggle because of a learning disability or a lack of introduction to the topic is none of our business. As a future educator, these facts might be useful to know, but they are not the map that is going to get our student to wanting to learn to the process of learning. As a future educator, it is my job to drench my students in the passion of learning, not just for the test, or for that one project that is due on Wednesday, but for understanding and for clarity.
Having a passion for education is not simply showing up to school on time, turning in all of the assignments, and getting good grades. This passion is electricity running through your veins whenever you are reading about your favorite time in history, or finally getting that math concept that you have been staring at for days. A passion for education is never just the bare minimum, it is all encompassing. Having this passion means, never stopping until you understand this notion that has escaped you for so long, and then being able to now grasp it. Then offering to tutor your friend in the subject so that they can feel as good as you do.
It is my job as a future educator to put that passion, that fire, inside of my students, to help them find what fuels their excitement. Is it science, or history, could it be drawing and painting, or drama? Most of these students already know, they like one subject over another, they want to go into this in college. But what about those students that are scraping by, that do not have a mentor to help them figure this huge question out? That is the job of the educator. We are not just there to educate these students on what year the Civil War took place or the causes of the Red Scare. Our job is to prepare our students for the real world, and when the teachers have a passion for education, this preparation can happen. Rather than telling the students why they need to learn this, they can share the plethora of ways that this can be helpful to know in the real world. Rather than explaining the goals, teachers can show the steps of execution of the goals. In every way, having a passion for education will make the world a better place, starting in the classroom.