Question by Jennifer

Question by Jennifer - July 2016 Scholarship Essay

I have had many teachers teach me the course material and some of them did it well. Some of them were great but only one was good. In biblical times, good meant God. Jesus was called the Good Teacher. That is what I call my freshman and senior English teacher. She taught me and continues to teach me about the value of questions. This woman questions everything and challenges what is considered normal. In her class, extra credit is awarded to students who ask good questions. This encourages deep thought and speculation. These are things often frowned upon for the sake of quickly covering the course material. When questioning is discouraged, free thought is also not validated. Questioning validates free thought and creates a society of learners and thinkers rather than a society of blind followers.
I have had the opportunity to learn from this teacher in a religious environment as well, and I have never contimplated more. I contimplated things I thought I knew and things I never considered. She challenged our comfort zones of thought. She made us think about the religious normals, things that are supposed to answer all the questions. When to some all were answered, to us all was questioned. Why do we do it this way? Why is this supposed to be one thing when it feels like another? Why does it matter? This is important because people who question and challenge are those who think and create.