Invested by Jonathan

Invested by Jonathan - January 2015 Scholarship Essay

Teaching is, by far, one of the most underrated professions in the world. The vast majority of people in this world hand over the easily-molded minds of their children into the hands of teachers, and yet they often ignored for their importance. There are many different ways to teach a youth, and there are many different ways for them to learn, but to me the best way for a teacher to help me to learn is for them to be just as invested in what they are teaching as they want me to be.

There are teachers all around the world, and I have seen my fair share of them, that are disinterested and apathetic towards their various subjects. I have been in the classroom of history teachers who are bored by history and engineering teachers who could not care less about what I took away from the subject. Apathy, above all else, is infectious, if a teacher is unable or unwilling to care, then so am I. I couldn't care less for what I learn in the class beyond the grade I get, and neither of us get anything out of it.

However, when a teacher shows investment in their teaching, the opposite is true. When you see the way they get excited over what they're trying to teach you, see them light up when they are asked a legitimately thought-provoking question, see the fire in their eyes and see the true enjoyment in them in what their job is to teach. It truly is amazing to watch, and to see somebody care so much, be invested so greatly in their particular field is also infectious, it makes me as a student want to see what they love, to understand what they've come to understand is so amazing and fantastical. It makes me want to learn.

In truth, showing investment in something shows students that it matters. It shows them that they're in the classroom for a reason, that there isn't something better that they should be doing, because what they're learning is so amazing that it simply can't be ignored. True passion is beautiful, and it inspires passion and beauty in others, for all people universally. Even teachers and students.