To Learn by Experience by Stephanie

To Learn by Experience by Stephanie - July 2016 Scholarship Essay

I don’t recall what the curriculum was in fourth grade—maybe long division, perhaps we learned about the solar system? What I do remember are the values of kindness and compassion that my teacher, Miss Davenport, not only taught but brought to life.

Miss D often made class lively and fun, so when one Monday morning in January she told about half of the class to stack their chairs and stand at their desks, I imagined we were in for some sort of treat. I was one of the students she told to stand. As the day continued and she treated the two groups of kids differently, it became more and more apparent that whatever was occurring was not a fun game. On the walk from our classroom to P.E. she told the same group of students that we had to walk at the back of the line, behind those who kept their seats at the beginning of the day. Our half of the class was not allowed to take turns holding the class guinea pigs as we usually did. We were the last dismissed to recess. The differential treatment was never cruel, but it was obvious, disconcerting, and unexplained.

About halfway through the day, a braver student than I raised his hand and asked in a small voice, “Miss D, why are you treating us like this?” At that moment, she became her amicable self again as she explained the exercise to the class: it was Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, and she was demonstrating to us how it felt to experience segregation and inequality. Every year she did this, alternating between discriminating against brown eyed students and those with blue or green eyes. And once any student spoke up or questioned her about it, the unequal treatment would end and she would explain.

I had heard the words repeated my whole life—“treat others how you want to be treated”—but that day, I truly felt the impact of what it meant. The stories about civil rights we heard in our social studies lessons suddenly became real to us. Miss Davenport asked us how it felt, both to be one who was treated poorly and to be preferentially treated while watching friends and peers experience discrimination. I learned more that day than I have any other single day at school. I discovered the importance of stepping into other people’s shoes and looking at things from different perspectives; I began to understand the power each one of us has to effect change by speaking out against injustice. The most important lesson I learned from Miss Davenport was the impact of kindness and compassion. I genuinely understood that respect for everyone, no matter who they are or what color eyes they might have, is vitally powerful. This has become a paramount value in my life, and something I will continue to strive to demonstrate in my future career as a doctor.

Educators have the ability not only to shape their students’ minds but their character as well. Because of the lessons Miss Davenport taught me on that one unforgettable Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, I am a better person and eternally grateful to my wonderful teacher.