The Unplanned Lesson by Rose

The Unplanned Lesson by Rose - July 2016 Scholarship Essay

Teachers are supposed to impose lessons upon their students. They do it every weekday for roughly 10 months through a well thought out series of lesson plans. From AP Biology in high school to Philosophy 255 in college, these lesson plans take numerous hours and significant effort to ensure that the curriculum will be properly presented. However, I have found that the things I remember most from my teachers are the life lessons they managed to slip in along with the basic course work.
I didn’t realize it at the time, but the most important lesson I learned from a teacher was during the creative writing class I took junior year of high school. The class itself was fairly free formed and the students got to decide its direction. At some point during the year, on our own time schedule, we had to submit a poetry packet to be critiqued. It had to consist of at least 5 original poems. The teacher of the class was philosophical and existential to say the least. He decided to single out some students in the class and give them a “challenge” for their poetry packets. One class period, about 5 weeks into the year, we all walked into the room and took our seats as usual. The teacher began one of his speeches to preface the work day. I remember him saying, “In today’s world, we’re all too concerned about failing. Whether it be in relationships, a class, or your teenage angst-filled lives, you have walls up.” At this point we all awkwardly laughed, not really sure where he was going with his speech and also because he somewhat called us out on our hormonal high school personas. He continued by stating, “Vulnerability is key to getting to where you want to be in life.” His message was: in order to seize opportunities that better you and help you succeed, you can’t stand on the sidelines. You have to be willing to take risks and participate no matter the negative things that could happen. He finished his spiel and everyone began to go back to work on their poetry packets and chat with their neighbors. The teacher walked over to my desk and saw that I was struggling to come up with ideas to write about for my packet. He told me, “Your challenge for your packet is to be vulnerable. Let your guard down for once.”
Writing that packet was the scariest thing I ever did in high school. I wrote 5 pieces that were the most honest depictions of my emotions. Thirty classmates read my work, gave their written and edited feedback on copies of my packet, and heard me read all my pieces aloud. Looking back, my poetry wasn’t the next comparison to Charles Bukowski. But, what I had to do in order to write that poetry is the feeling I covet. I previously lived my life in a self-built defense tower because I was terrified of allowing myself the possibility of failure. Now, I take risks because I know the end result will be worth it. I am genuinely happier knowing that I tried and failed, rather than constantly wondering what would have happened because I chose not to try. My freshman year of college I had the chance to take a senior level course in the specific focus of my major because my professor saw how hard I was working in my classes. I completed the class with an A and also earned the respect of the upper classmen. I took a chance a few years ago and wrote to the manager of a company for which I wanted to volunteer. They hired me as an intern at just 16 years of age. Vulnerability was the most important lesson for me because by allowing myself to be vulnerable in the world, I have learned that there is so much I can accomplish if I just try. Every positive outcome to a risk I take is worth ten negative ones.
Yes. Algebra and world history are very important. I can recite the quadratic formula to the tune of “Pop Goes the Weasel” and I know that one of the inciting incidents for WWI was the assassination of Archduke Ferdinand. But the lessons my teachers have taught me that have shaped me as a person, were not the ones listed in their lesson plans; they were the life lessons that my teachers recognized their students needed to hear.