Things They Don't Teach You In School by Long

Things They Don't Teach You In School by Long - August 2013 Scholarship Essay

Why do we go to school? That’s a simple question with a simple answer. Most of you would probably say to “learn things” or “because my mom said so.” Those answers make perfect sense. I’ve followed the daily routine of “class take out this and that, flip to page, today we are taking notes on.” The list of teacher expressions and repetitive statements go on and on. Whether we know it or not we learn plenty of lessons in school. Some of those lessons may include finding the side lengths of triangles, the circumference of the moon, or how the invasive kudzu vines have made themselves native in North America. I bet you find you find yourself asking the same question that hundreds of other students are asking. The question is, why do I need to know these things, when am I ever going to use this useless information? When will I have a useful lesson?
My senior year of high school had begun and I looked at my new schedule. It was filled with AP classes that I didn’t want to take, but for some reason I couldn’t find myself taking the easier routes. I walked into my chemistry class and took my seat. My teacher Mr.K walked to the front of the room and introduced himself. He had a beard that covered his entire lower half of his face and was completely bald on the upper half of his face. I couldn’t take this guy seriously. He looked like a young homeless person and he was loud and always joking around. Senioritis had been hitting me since summer began and I found myself sitting in my desk with my headphones plugged in. The end of the quarter was here and my class ranking from the previous year came in and I was in the top 15% out of 700 students. My ranking was fairly acceptable to my standards as I put in very minimal efforts throughout my high school career. Below my rankings were my class grades of the school year so far. I stared at A’s and B’s and to my astonishment an F. I had never gotten a failing grade in my life and I knew who I was pointing my fingers at. Mr. K had been failing plenty of kids while the other senior teachers were very lenient. Our rankings were not finalized until the end of the semester meaning I was currently out of the top 15% and would lose automatic college acceptance from my target universities. I was angry and it was evident that everyone else in the class was as well as a line of students filed in towards Mr.K’s desk. He told everyone to sit down and he would answer all questions at the end of the class. He turned the lights off and began playing a slideshow of himself during college at Texas A&M. Pictures of him and his friends and a huge bonfire were on the screen. Mr. K took a deep breath as he began. “Texas A&M had a tradition which has been discontinued. We would spend weeks building a bonfire first thing in the morning. It took a lot of effort, time, and patience. None of you have put in the effort to build your bonfire this year and it reflects on your grade.” A student yelled out “Mr. K no other teacher is trying as hard as you can’t you just let the seniors chill?” Mr. K looked at the class for a moment and looked back at his screen. “On this day 11 years ago, this bonfire collapsed and killed my friends and injured plenty of others.” The class was silent. “ I saw this girl under one of the logs and pulled her out. She became my wife 5 years later.” “ I was depressed and failed that semester. I blamed all of my professors for failing me and not giving me a break during my time of emotional trouble. None of the professors cared. It’s not their grade it’s my grade. Everyone of you guys will graduate, but you will learn that no one cares if you are having problems or troubles. I don’t care that everyone is a senior and all of your other teachers are treating you guys like your five! That’s something you won’t learn in school. If you want something done right you have to do it yourself, and people don’t care if you succeed or not.” No one asked him questions after class including myself. I knew that my poor grade was what I deserved.
That day propelled me farther into what I could do. Every one of my teachers made me unprepared for college with their lackluster teaching efforts and performances while Mr.K taught me that life gets harder, but you have the power to decide your fate. That was the most interesting and beneficial lesson that I have ever learned in my life. This bald headed, bearded, weirdo is by far the best teacher that I have ever had.