Teacher Influence by Tom

Teacher Influence by Tom - July 2014 Scholarship Essay

My ninth grade Spanish teacher positively affected my attitude towards education. Before taking that class, I had no desire to learn a second language. I had a hard enough time in my English classes, so I dreaded my Spanish class early on. My teacher made us all feel at ease on the first day of class. He told us about his travels to Spain and how he felt lost since he had just learned Spanish and had trouble holding conversations with people. He told us how nervous he was and how he felt out of place. He also made light of his situation by telling jokes in between his stories. He found a silver lining in all of his travels abroad. He overcame his nervousness and obstacles and became a fluent Spanish speaker. After hearing his stories I felt that if he could do it, then I could do it too.

All of a sudden, I didn’t feel regretful taking this class. My Spanish teacher took baby steps with us each day and made the class enjoyable with his humor and his storytelling about embarrassing moments when he would use the wrong words in foreign countries. He showed me that everybody makes mistakes and mistakes will happen so just embrace it and move on. I realized that the Spanish language would not be learned overnight and through trial and error, I too could become a fluent Spanish speaker. I ended up finishing that class with an ‘A’ and I aced the final exam. I did not become a fluent Spanish speaker at that time, but I definitely received a worthy foundation and a valuable life lesson.

That’s when the light bulb clicked in my head. If I can learn a foreign language, then there are no limitations to what I can learn. I realized then that I needed to expand my horizons and take risks. I no longer feared taking classes that were out of my realm and out of my depth. The lessons I learned in my Spanish class was the reason why I went on to take classes such as calculus and physics. Oddly enough, I didn’t take any other foreign language classes such as Latin or French. I guess that’s because I didn’t want to confuse myself and I did not want to forget the newly Spanish language that I learned.

“Esta es mi historia. Gracias por su tiempo y tener un buen día.”