We All Gaped at Him by Taylor

We All Gaped at Him by Taylor - July 2016 Scholarship Essay

I think the whisper started in the back of the classroom. Beginning as a hushed murmur, it started to grow as it made its way from one lab bench to the next.

“It’s snowing.”

It was mid-November, therefore, not completely unusual for us to be getting snow in Massachusetts. This particular nor'easter, however, was not only unexpected, but it also happened to arrive the week of Thanksgiving. The first big snow of the season is enough to distract a freshman class on its own, but with the long weekend dangling just within our reach, our biology teacher was no match for the storm brewing outside.

As my classmates and I settled in to watch the snow pile up, we simultaneously tuned out the lecture on photosystems one and two. The flakes kept falling harder and faster and just as I was about to turn to my lab partner to make plans to ski over the weekend, Mr. A stormed out of the room and the door slammed shut behind him.

The low hum of chatter immediately ceased. I felt my eyes widen. Mr. A was a calm and patient teacher; this was very uncharacteristic of him. Silently, students began to exchange worrisome glances and raised eyebrows. Everyone remained clueless until suddenly, there was a sharp knock at the window. The entire class whipped around and there, standing ankle deep in the fresh powder in nothing but a thin dress shirt, was our biology teacher. The girl closest to the window pushed it open and Mr. A continued his lecture as normal, ignoring the fact that he was collecting snowflakes in his hair.

We all gaped at him.

“What?” He asked once he finally noticed our confusion. “You folks seem to be so interested in looking out the window. I might as well just shift myself into your field of view.” He laughed as he said this and leaned down to pack a snowball together. He told us it was going to be excellent sledding conditions.

I learned more about light-dependent reactions that day, than I ever thought possible. The entire class eagerly absorbed the information and demanded more. Mr. A showed us that sometimes you can’t always follow your plan. Obviously his original lesson wasn’t engaging his class, but instead of yelling at us, and telling us to turn around and pay attention, he thought on his feet and tried a different method. He improvised, and it worked. If you stumble, make it part of the dance.