The Knowledge of Now by Nicole

The Knowledge of Now by Nicole - July 2016 Scholarship Essay

To say the least, high school is weird. You’re old enough to drive yourself around and make decisions that impact the rest of your life, but you still have to ask to use the restroom. You’re expected to memorize countless formulas and chemical reactions, yet your opinion is still looked down upon because you haven’t experienced as much of life as others that surround you. High school is a transitionary time period in life when you are on the brink of the world, with college and adult responsibilities just around the corner, but you are still bounded by the same rules and regulations that kindergartners in the same school system are confined by. It’s easy to feel powerless and unimportant in the whole scheme of things because of the stereotypical judgement of high schoolers, the idea that we are all know-it-all rebels who have yet to learn what life is really about; it’s easy to second guess yourself and your opinions when society keeps hammering on you that you aren’t quite smart enough to have those opinions. Sure, my parents always supported all of my endeavors and opinions and set me free to learn from my own mistakes, believing that despite my seemingly naïve perspective on life, that I would eventually find my way, but I always knew that they believed in me because they were my parents and they had to.
My senior year of high school, I was blessed to have the opportunity to be a part of the best class, and experience, I’ve had to date. My high school offered a class called Advanced Health, a class that was meant to be an extension of traditional health class, a class that dove into controversial topics such as abortion, the drug war, and mental illnesses. This class has a phenomenal reputation at my school, therefore, all of the student’s that take it are well aware that they are expected to willingly volunteer, speak their mind, and share their opinions every day. From day one, this class inspired and encouraged us high school students to formulate opinions and stick up for them, something that modern society believes that we are too naïve to do. Not only did this class expose me to a multitude of opinions and thoughts that challenged and shaped my own, but it also introduced me to the most inspirational teacher, and human, that I’ve had the pleasure of knowing. This class is so successful at Neuqua Valley because of the phenomenal teachers that teach it, the teachers who are willing to open up and tell us stories about their lives that break past the boundaries usually found in classrooms. Advanced Health truly forms relationships between students, their peers, and their teacher, due to the close knit bond that is so crucial to this class’s success. During one of the first days of class, my extraordinary teacher, Mrs. Thormeyer, shared a piece of advice with us that I will never forget. She explained that although society sometimes views high schoolers as naïve and powerless, we are the smartest we’ve been to date at this very moment, and we can do nothing more than grow every day. She explained that it is ridiculous to compare our intelligence and our grasp on life to adults, because all we know is what we’ve experienced thus far in life up to today, that this is the smartest we’ve ever been, and in time, we will grow and become even more intelligent, that you learn more and more every single day. This advice really resonated with me. Sure, it seems like an obvious thought to have, but sometimes it takes an inspiring and influential human to help you realize your potential. Mrs. Thormeyer never disregarded our opinions, nor did she make us feel any less able to have an opinion. She truly shaped my ability to articulate my thoughts about uncomfortable topics, be confident in myself and my opinions to speak out about them, and be comfortable enough to stick up for those opinions due to her reassuring words and encouragement that proved to me that me and my opinions did in fact matter. Although I did not learn how to find the derivative of a polynomial function or the writing styles of the twentieth century in Advanced Health, I learned a much bigger lesson: no one should ever let you feel less able or less powerful because of your age, because you are the smartest you’ve ever been right now and that’s a pretty cool thing to know. So, thank you Mrs. Thormeyer, and thank you Advanced Health, for making me confident, comfortable, and powerful, because to me, that is so much more valuable than mastering Calculus.