"The Real World" by Whitney

"The Real World" by Whitney - December 2014 Scholarship Essay

When I was younger, I hated required reading assignments. I hated-- and still hate-- the idea of reading just for a grade, but this seemed to be the constant approach to literature with every single teacher I met. Then I met Mrs. Benz, my junior AP English teacher. She showed us that through literature, we could discover anything. In her class we explored racism, greed, and destruction. We talked about these issues together and worked towards solutions and understanding. These classroom discussions changed my view on literature, education, and people in general. My education thus far has taught me that everyone has an opinion that is important and vital to problem solving, but that it might take a classroom discussion of The Scarlet Letter to bring it out. This knowledge has made me into the person that I am today because it completely changed how I look at my peers. I no longer look at unopinionated people with disdain. I just remind myself that he has not found his The Scarlet Letter yet.

This knowledge not only changed how I look at people, but also increased my desire to work with them. My AP English teacher was a very special case. I had never seen a teacher do that before. Once I realized this, I became very upset. No student should have a teacher who does anything less than what she does for her students in her classroom. She is the epitome of what good teaching is and I felt sad that so many students do not have access to a teacher like her. This realization is what drove me to choose a career in Literature and Communication Education. With my career, I will be able to work with students to solve real-world problems and give them a chance to have a healthy discussion about issues without being patronized. I never realized how important a chance like that was until I had it. Now, I could never wish anyone to have anything less.

My education completely changed the course of my future and how I look at the world today. I never knew how much an old novel could change a person’s life until I experienced it. I had heard of therapists using things such as coloring or playing with toys to encourage a child to talk about trauma, but had never heard of an English teacher using a book to get a student to talk about something other than grammar. Now that I have experienced this, I have realized that teachers really do teach more than one might think they do. Teachers have a responsibility so much bigger than teaching us the Pythagorean theorem. They have the responsibility of shaping the lives and minds of young adults. This cannot be accomplished through an emphasis on just getting good grades. This must be accomplished by showing the student how what happens in the classroom equates to what happens in “the real world.” I have learned that preaching about “the real world” will do nothing to help the student. What really helps is showing them “the real world.” This happens by making the classroom “the real world.” This is what was done for me and my classmates. This teaching style has completely changed who I am as a student and as a human being.