A Teacher's Habit by Sean

A Teacher's Habit by Sean - June 2019 Scholarship Essay

My calculus teacher was nothing short of an incredible educator. He did it all, even though - if you only looked at his obligations - he should have been constantly tired and out of time. He’s a father of two with his youngest recovering from severe illness, but from the energy and motivation he brought to class every day you’d think he was 25 and had just won the lottery. He’s always willing to work with kids before school, after school, and during school to help them understand his course and sometimes life in general, if the conversation got around to that. He taught me a lot of extremely valuable lessons, but I’ll relate to you the most important one.
The first two years of my high school career could be summed up as mediocre. I loved learning, don't get me wrong -- but it didn’t translate into results because I wasn’t willing to work hard on certain things. I was apathetic until my Junior year. I took three AP classes that year, one of them being AP Calculus -- my favorite teacher’s class. He had ten to fifteen large, colorful laminated posters with various motivational quotes written on them in bold lettering, but he always had a preference for one particular poster. At the beginning and ending of every school year he’d give the class a little speech, more or less related to the poster’s quote: “We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.” -Aristotle. That’s the lesson my favorite teacher taught me.
My last two years of high school were, as far as grades were concerned, golden. I took eight AP classes over those four semesters and got an A in every single one. I hadn’t magically gotten more intelligent or better at procrastinating -- I simply followed my calculus teacher’s example and advice, making excellence a habit instead of an act. I paid more attention in class, worked more outside of class, and developed better relationships with my teachers as a result of that mental switch.
For me, this lesson reaches beyond high school as well. Had I not been motivated to make excellence a habit there’s no doubt that I wouldn’t have taken as many AP classes as I have, and would be (literally) paying the price for it in college. Because of my favorite teacher’s lesson I’ll be able to take more of the college classes that actually relate to my degree, instead of spending unnecessary time and money on general education courses. If I play my cards right I might even be able to earn some credit for a master’s degree during my undergraduate senior year, helping me take my education even further.
Among all the calculus and algebra my favorite teacher taught me, none of it impacted my education as much as his lesson that excellence is not an act, but a habit. It kicked me into gear for the last two years of high school, exactly when I needed it most; it led me to build the foundation for a great college learning experience by spurring me to take many college-level courses in high school, and it will continually impact my education throughout my collegiate studies as I strive for a habit of excellence.