Never judge a book by its cover by Niamilet

Never judge a book by its cover by Niamilet - July 2016 Scholarship Essay

I have always believed that we can learn lessons from everyone and everything. Our own experiences and other people’s experiences can help us grow as a person. Although I have learned many lessons from my professors, the biggest lesson I have learned is to never judge a book by its cover. I know this is a common saying and we have learned about it in movies, books and our daily life, but a particular professor was a living proof that everything is not what it seems.

Before choosing the professor’s class many college students told me that she was one of the worse professors in the faculty. Failure was imminent for me, according to every review I received about her. I have to admit that I got to believe them and on the first day of class I was frightened. When she entered the room she smiled, and I thought that was her welcome to hell. After presenting herself she told us all that we were to fail if we didn’t work hard.

The next day only half of the students came to class. The other half left. Her attitude caught my eye and I decided to stay. She threatened to fail us several times and gave us a lot of work. The professor used to get mad whenever we didn’t speak in class. But I stayed since the beginning because I knew she was more than what she said she was.

I believe that inside every person there is good, no matter how bad that person is or appears to be. She appeared strict, serious, evil, heartless, amongst many things. I can’t hide that. But that was just a layer under a person that only wanted the best for her students. She wanted to build responsible professionals. She wanted us to work hard so we could strive academically. She wanted us to express ourselves correctly and build character through class discussions.

Thanks to her I learned that working hard is the only way we can get good things in life. I also learned that being responsible is the only way I will be able to complete my future projects as a professional. Additionally, I learned to love reading and the importance in reading comprehension. She used to tell her students that not every lecture was written to teach us lessons, but every lecture itself taught me something different through the discussions in class. At the end of the semester, she honored the students who worked hard with a good grade.

But what I admire from this professor is that she did not only teach us to be better students. Personally, she taught me that everyone has a past and their own burdens and responsibilities. She had hers and all of them made her the way she is. Her sassy attitude was her way to deal with her life. But inside this woman, scary for many, there was a teacher who loved her profession, but wasn’t fairly paid. There was a mother that missed her daughter and cared from her in the distance. A woman who lost her last apartment and was moving to a new place all by herself. She was also a human being worried for the future of our country and our young generation.

Believe it or not, professors like her are the reason many students turn out to be strong and wise adults. I am glad I wasn’t one of the students who left her class on the second day, because she was a book that taught me many things. Behind that cover, inside that book, there was not only a lesson, there were many. She was the most important lecture of them all. This is the most important lesson I have learned from a teacher; to never judge a book by its cover.