Hey my darling students! You can reply to this post with your TIB essay in the comment box (make sure the first line of your comment is your title).
Just make sure you include your name at the bottom of your post so I can see that you submitted it on here. Thanks! I look forward to reading them!
I was stuffed into a tiny desk, surrounded by grey walls, drab carpet, and the kid next to me was bobbing his head while he fought the urge to sleep. In this class, this was an ordinary day—there were no projects, no homework assignments; just reading and taking notes. Looking around at my peers, I noticed that they each stared blankly at a point on the opposite wall or fidgeted with their phones. I was slowly joining them in this apathy, counting down the days until graduation. Once, I overheard the teacher talking with another teacher toward the end of class. He said, “I’m leaving after this year, so there’s no point in giving myself extra work by grading papers and projects.” His detachment struck me like lightning. I rushed out of the classroom when the bell rang, eager to get to my next class.
ReplyDeleteThe change of scenery was instantly calming. The walls were covered in colorful posters depicting different aspects of Psychology, and walking through the door felt like the heaviness and stress of school was lifted off my shoulders.
“As long as you pay attention, I’ll attempt to teach you.” My psychology teacher, Mr. Camilli, always opened class with a quirky quote, and after a while, they became a routine I looked forward to.
One day, I was giving a presentation that I had worked on for weeks. My best friend—the chattiest person in class—was boisterously gossiping with the person sitting next to him. Frustrated, I looked at my teacher, and as though we had had the same thought, he said something I had never heard a teacher say before, “Shut up, Alex”. The silence in the room was tangible.
Later, as students started shoving notebooks into backpacks and shuffling out the door to lunch, Mr. Camilli asked me to stay after class. Surprised by this, I stayed, and he explained, “Alex is one of those personalities who need to be yelled at once in a while.” In that moment, nodding at what my teacher had just stated, everything I had been learning in Psychology clicked into place. The wheels in my head turned at warp speed. I realized my dream: I wanted to study people like Alex—to understand why personalities like his “need to be yelled at”.
Through the remainder of the year I started asking questions. I participated in class, went to office hours, and stayed after class to discuss what we learned in detail. Mr. Camilli welcomed my questions and comments with open arms.
I believe in the power of influence teachers hold. When teachers become so passionate about a topic that they captivate students, they inspire those students. I asked Mr. Camilli, once, how he stayed so enthusiastic about teaching, and he replied, “I’m going to be working here for a long time, so I want my students to really learn something before they go.” Because of his enthusiasm, I am pursuing my dream of getting a Psychology degree.
By Mackenzie Howshar
Harmony in Music and Life
ReplyDeleteThe chair I sat on was uncomfortable, and all around me I could hear people shifting and squirming in their seats; though I wasn’t sure if it was because of the chairs themselves or if it was due to nerves. In all honesty, it was probably a combination of the two. My focus however wasn’t on the people that sat at my sides or stood in front of me. Rather my eyes were gazing upward, fixated on the clock tower that stood in the exact center of the small walled in city of Rothenberg, Germany. The clocks hands slowly glided around its worn face until finally the minute hand met the hour hand at the twelve. Bells chimed, figures popped out of the clock and danced around; the conductor who stood in front of the band slowly raised his arms, and when the final bell had finished ringing, we began to play.
It was because of my education in music that I was able to journey to Europe and perform in seven different countries. I got to take three weeks off from my normal humdrum school routine which centered on math equations and scientific formulas to travel and connect with a hundred people my age. It didn’t matter that we came from different economic backgrounds or that we belonged to different social groups; in the days that we spent crammed together on the overheated bus, we always had something to talk about because we all had something in common, music.
One wild guy whose lean body was riddled with tattoos led the way. He could always be seen bouncing between people eagerly learning about their personal and musical backgrounds, and when he found somebody who he thought you would like he would happily introduce the two of you. This common ground that he and our shared love of music had built allowed us to get past our individual differences. Instead we all worked together as a team to transform our personal blunders of misplayed notes into a beautiful piece of music that we were all proud to have mastered.
Even today years after I was traveling and performing in concerts overseas, I still believe in the power of music. I believe that with it I was able to reach out and connect with so many different people; both in the band I was in, as well as the people who took some time out of their busy schedules to come and listen to us play. It didn’t matter if we all spoke the same language or not. After all, you don’t have to speak the language in order to find some meaning in the notes, or take comfort in the rhythm; it can be completely foreign and still be beautiful.
I believe that with music I was able to gain a different kind of knowledge, one that you can’t simply find by paying attention in class or by reading books. Rather, I learned that some things you really can’t do alone be it in class, on the job or even just in your personal life. Instead you sometimes have to just be patient and have faith that others will help you out and do their share. In the end, the words spoken so long ago by John Donne still ring true today, “no man is an island, entire of itself”.
By Jessica Andrzejewski
The Relevance in Learning
ReplyDeleteAfter taking a year of Spanish, and earning A’s, I felt pretty confident that I knew enough of the basics to get by. Come 2 years later, I am dating someone who was born in Mexico and raised in America. One day he received a phone call from his mother, who didn’t know any English, and I realized I had forgotten everything I had learned from my Spanish classes. Hearing them talking to each other I couldn’t translate more than four words from their whole conversation. I knew it was because I had never practiced the language after I was done with the classes.
Since Spanish had proven to be so useful, I decided to enroll in sign language classes. About a month into my first sign language class, my teacher writes on the board a deaf social coming up, encouraging all of us to attend. The girl sitting next to me, Laura, asks if I am going, and if so, would I be willing to go with her. I did so we worked out the details as to when and where to meet up.
Come that weekend we walk into Chipper Lanes Bowling Alley both shaking with nerves. “How are we supposed to know where the group is?” she asks but then we look into the room and the answer is as plain as day. Apparently, using your entire body to talk is the exact opposite of inconspicuous. They were a lively group talking amongst themselves quietly. We walked over and introduced ourselves. The group welcomed us with open arms and accepted us as their friends even though they did not know us. Throughout the night we mostly gravitated toward a man named Greg. He explained that he was born deaf and used to teach sign language. Greg was extremely nice by signing slowly for us and helping with our vocabulary. I am pretty sure I have never had to fingerspell so many things in my life but I learned so much. Even though I spent that whole night trying to defend myself from the jokes about my bad bowling skills, it opened my eyes to a whole new lifestyle. After that night, Laura and I tried to attend every deaf social that we were invited to because it was an amazing experience.
I believe the most successful way to learn is by using it in the real world. People have always said it is important to go to school and get an education but it is useless knowledge if you never use it outside of the classroom. If I had never used sign language in the real world, I would probably know as much of it as I know of Spanish. Now instead of knowing very little about the language, I have embraced it and now live with my best friend, a deaf girl.
By Kendra Wagner
Flipping the Switch
ReplyDeleteThey say even a small man can cast a large shadow, and my small high school had no problems casting a shadow in the Northern Colorado area. We were known as the “druggie school” by other schools in the area, and that name was well-deserved. Given the large amount of students that slammed alcohol and smoked marijuana before, during, and after school hours, students that preferred living in the shadows they casted wore that title with pride.
Others, however, preferred to defy that title and work hard in academics with serious goals in mind. While living in the light is often the desired lifestyle, peer pressure has quite the gravitational pull, and that shadow was ever-growing.
Mrs. Aspen flipped the light switch on in these times and provided a place for those of us that needed somewhere to stay. The classroom feeling was swept away by paint-splattered floors, desks coated with clay dusting, and 6 foot tall painted masterpieces of the Beatles, Jimi Hendrix, Cat Stevens, and Jim Morrison. These things made us feel at home, like equals. In the end, all of us that went to her reaped the benefits of staying out of trouble, regardless of whether or not we recognized it.
My senior year, one of the most dangerous years of high school, I met some new friends and they weren’t good influences on my life; shadow-casters, so to speak. Instead of going out and growing more attached to this lifestyle, Mrs. Aspen took me in at lunch and taught me to play Settlers of Catan, a board game.
After that intervention, I stopped playing beer pong and looked forward to playing board games.
That year, I was also really struggling to come to terms with my childhood abuse. School just wasn’t priority. I found it really hard not to butt heads with one of my teachers, so I gathered my stuff and left in the middle of class. However, I didn’t go to drink my troubles away, I went to Mrs. Aspen’s room, and there I saw several other kids coming in to just spend time away from their troubles, too.
I’ve seen people of all backgrounds come to her room to just talk, or get away from their problems for just an hour. In the shadow of our school’s reputation, we were able to find a place, a person that made us feel secure.
We found someone that made us feel like we’re worth it when everything else said otherwise, and having someone that believes in you is the driving force behind what people do every single day.
Even 3 years later, I know I have someone that believes in me back in my hometown high school.
Therefore, I believe in teachers that provide a light in the dark times. Like Albus Dumbledore says, “Happiness can be found in the darkest of times, if one only remembers to turn on the light.”
Ashlee Utley
Recycling Your Knowledge
ReplyDeleteIt is nearly engrained into our brains that education is the most important aspect to being successful in life, but why has education about how to treat our planet been lost in the curriculum? The knowledge about being sustainable is just as important as learning to read, write, or solve equations. If no one is told that we can’t keep taking from the earth without giving back, we will run out of earth to walk on.
This belief stems from my high school experience, where many of my classmates were less privileged than I was. Their families survived welfare and they were often living off bags of chips that they bought from the gas station minutes before class began with spare change that they found in some radius of the bus stop. When 3:00 P.M. rolled around, the campus was decorated with a variety of bags and wrappers clustered near beams and doorways. They threw their used tissues in the recycling bins, plastic water bottles in trash bins, and went about their day like none of it mattered. It was apparent that these students were either very misinformed, or just selfish and stubborn.
In my junior year, a tree-hugging friend and I found motivation and co-founded our school’s first environmental club—the “green team.” We advertized it with homemade posters of neon construction paper and glitter-glue that we tacked onto our hallways barren walls and greatly anticipated our first meeting. It would be an understatement to say that we were overjoyed with the turnout of our first meeting. The small, smelly classroom was sardine-packed and about half of the students that showed up were the ones that we previously found so incredibly wasteful. Their interest in sustainability was shocking, but amazing.
With increased opportunity to learn about recycling, reducing waste, and helping clean up litter the neighborhood, we saw drastic change in the attitude of several students. It is such an uplifting feeling to have changed the views of people in a positive way, especially when it is something you deeply care about, such as keeping our planet clean.
It is important to be exposed to sustainability in schools, especially at a young age, so that students can get an early start. Although it was not present in my neighborhood growing up, I see the opportunity everyday in the city where my university is located, and this puts a smile on my face. This is why I believe in education about being sustainable.
Nicole Hornslein
Dedication to excellence
ReplyDeleteIt was the end of my senior year and I was more excited than ever to be finishing school. One bad grade stood in my way, and while I knew it wouldn’t keep me from graduating, I wanted to try and go out knowing that I gave it my all. My teacher noticed my slipping grade and offered her help. I gladly accepted because Calculus just wasn’t my thing. I had never enlisted for help from a teacher, but I thought if there was ever a time to do it, it was then.
That year I was one of many students struggling in calculus, but because most of the students had their math credits in, they decided not to get the help they needed to do better. I decided otherwise. I knew that at that point, the only way I was going to have a shot at getting my grade up was by enlisting the help of my teacher. People thought I was crazy but to try and achieve my goal I had to work harder in class first hour, sit next to her and the other calculus teachers third and fourth hour, and do two to three extra hours of practice problems at home every evening. Day after day I had to wipe the graphite off my arm after working for so long, but I knew I could make progress if I really worked at it.
I believe that teachers are the most vital tool a student can utilize while they are in school, not only for grades but for life.
There were thirty kids enrolled in the class and the pass rate was only about 50%. Both my teacher and I knew we had our words cut out for us but I knew I wanted to make it happen. I walked in to the office the first day only seeing a few other students there. She sat in the first row at the third desk right by the doorway. I remember when she wasn’t there I had to use another calculus teachers desk which was good because when he would come back, he would check my work too. She had me looking at previous night’s homework to make sure it was right and she also made other packets of problems for me to work on.
Not only did this help with my grade in class, but it was also a learning experience about what goes on in the office with teachers. I got to talk with many different teachers about the subjects they taught, some of which I was taking and some of which they were teaching me from scratch. Her and I talked about a lot of things that we both did outside of class and I wouldn’t have ever known that if I hadn’t have gone in for help.
I have known a lot of teachers by a last name basis, but I haven’t known too many on an outside of the classroom basis.
Carey Wilkening
Passion Runs Deep
ReplyDeleteThe leaves are turning from a deep and even green to vibrant reds and oranges. Millions of nervous kids are walking into their first class of their college career. Some have an explicit idea what their next four long years will hold for them, where this degree will take them in life. Some may not, but are perhaps following the wishes of a parent, the footsteps of a sibling, or simply going through the motions and hoping for a light at the end of the tunnel. Perhaps if we take a step back and allow our mind and body to progress without restrictions, only then will we really know what we want out of life.
The start of my college career began very similarly. I moved away from home with the thought that college would unearth vital details about myself. My only discoveries were debt and homesickness; I was a fish out of water. I moved back home and mechanically enrolled in a community college twenty minutes from my parents’ house. A year later, my diploma arrived in the mail. My name was preceding my degree: Associates of Liberal Arts, a glorified high school diploma. I knew the continuation of school was in my future, but my degree concentration was nowhere close to being decided.
While I pondered what major would really hit the nail on the head, I earned some revenue in the restaurant industry. I had been waiting tables for some time when I realized that most of my colleagues were college graduates. I could not believe these fellow employees were working day in and day out earning tips full time. I wanted an explanation. Some graduates could not find jobs in their profession; others simply did not want a career specializing in their degree. I could not help but wonder if these graduates had waited a few years, would they had stumbled into that same major? I believe by taking a little vacation from school, my passion for animals was found.
My animal zeal stems from my two dogs. My dogs are my world; I love them with all my heart. They will not disagree with me; well, unless they are hungry. As the magnet on my refrigerator states, “My dog thinks I’m perfect.” Ultimately, I realize my love and care for animals is extensive and it is apparent that I should be in school. I want to become a veterinarian.
I have decided to enroll at Colorado State University, strive in Animal Sciences, and become a student of our Veterinarian School. The passion and investment towards school will continue to mold me and allow me to flourish. I believe that my decision to explore my options has shaped me into who I am today and tomorrow.
Danielle Baker
Seeing the Good Out of the Bad
ReplyDeleteGrowing up I attended a lot of schools that were underfunded. Many of them didn’t have enough books to go around and I ended up having to share them with two or three other students. Not a whole lot changed once I got into a community college. The major difference was that you were required to pay for you own overpriced books. This was money I didn’t have. I was confused as to why I had to pay for such a large tuition and then buy my own supplies and books. It seemed unfair. The classrooms at my community college were a mess. I remember walking into class on my first day. The condition of the classroom was disappointing considering how much tuition cost. When I walked into the room I was appalled. There were not enough chairs to go around and half the chairs were broken and looked shabby. There was no computer for the teacher to use and only one very small whiteboard to write on. That was a hard semester to get through. I did not enjoy the environment I was in, and it made learning very difficult.
After attending community college for three years, I decided it was time to move on and I transferred to a four year college. I was looking forward to something different but I was optimistic about what kind of a learning environment I was going to be in. Once again, tuition was very high and I was still required to pay for my own supplies. I started to wonder if anything had changed or if the classrooms were relatively the same. Again, I wondered where my money was going.
The first day of class was an exciting one. From the second I stepped onto campus, I could tell that something was different. The buildings were beautiful on the outside and I hoped that they were just as beautiful on the inside. Walking into my first class I was stunned. There were computers at every desk and a giant whiteboard for the teacher which could also be used as a projector screen. My learning experience was great. Having these improvements really helped me get better grades. It was a much better learning environment. This was such a positive experience in my life that now when someone asks me why tuition is so high, I tell them, “look around you at all the educational tools. This is why your tuition is so high. You are provided with everything you need to get the best education.”
Now I had everything I needed to enhance my education. School is still very expensive and difficult for me to afford it but at least I know my money is going to something worthwhile like classroom equipment to help enhance my learning experience. I truly believe that the high price of tuition will lead to a greater learning experience.
Madison Bennett
ReplyDelete“Be Daring, Be Different”
ReplyDeleteHigh School can be a daunting experience. The hallways are louder and more crowded, the teachers are unfamiliar and the amount of books you are expected to carry around seems almost criminal. For me, walking onto campus as a freshman was probably the scariest moment of my young adult life. I felt uneasy about the way in which my new teachers would teach; I had become if not comfortable at least accustomed to the black and white world of text as a style of learning that had been pounded into me since elementary school.
I ventured off with my schedule wadded in a tight fist to find the art room that was tucked away in some distance and remote corner of campus. When I walked through the door a woman was standing at the head of the class wearing overalls stained with all colors of paint, and her thick red hair had a windswept quality as though she had been standing in a very violent wind storm.
A quote I hadn’t noticed before, for it had been blocked by my teacher’s hair had been written on the blackboard. It read: “Be daring, be different, be impractical, be anything that will assert integrity of purpose and imaginative vision against the play-it-safers, the creatures of the commonplace, the slaves of the ordinary.”-Cecil Beaton. I stared at the words in a kind of dazed confusion. These bold words felt misplaced in the confining walls of a classroom, they went against everything I had come to believe teachers expected, which was to be placid in following a set of rigid rules. This strange woman was actually encouraging us to be actively different and imaginative!
My black and white world of text quickly burst into color as the semester progressed. As a class we quickly ventured far away from the traditional way of learning to a new and at first scary way. My teacher encouraged us to be creative in the pursuit of knowledge by approaching assignments not as a chore but as an honest expression of our thoughts and ideas. In a number of projects we were encouraged to pick our own subjects and in turn express what we wanted to express. I discovered that I loved this new style of learning that replaced texts with experience. My art teacher had pushed me out of my comfort zone to experience a boarder and more wonderful world.
All my actions hold the inspired echo from my high school teacher and the various new experiences she helped me discover. The quote she wrote upon the board that first day still holds great meaning in my life. It was unconventional quote for a classroom and she was an unconventional person and I try to be as daring and different as she was everyday by doing something that scares me.
Liz Dinkel
To Europe or Bust
ReplyDeleteStudying abroad can give you so many things you never thought you would gain. An education of new cultures, experiencing the world first hand, and growing in independence are a few things I gained when I traveled with my high school choir to Europe.
On my trip, we were scheduled to go to Austria, Germany, and the Czech Republic. I packed my bags hoping for cold German weather but instead our place got put on hold. We got stuck in Washington D.C. due to thunderstorms.
However, this in itself was a new culture. We were lucky enough to see Washington Mall, and the Vietnam Memorial. I still remember standing before Abraham Lincoln’s giant sculpture feeling a little small in comparison. My U.S. history class that year could only teach me so much. Walking through the Vietnam memorial, I saw what I learned.
When we finally got there, all sleepy and doe-eyed, just off the plane, I see the “Frankfurt Airport” sign just overhead. I all of a sudden am immersed into this new culture. I hear German words here and there. I feel anxious and excited…and rather sleepy.
We then took a long drive to this tiny medieval town called Rothenberg. Our driver sped on the autobahn. As he pasted slower cars, he taught us that buses and larger vehicles such as semis have to go under about 60mph on this highway and that every one else can drive at the speed of their own choosing. I learned about how drivers in Germany had much more training before they were allowed to drive on that highway.
By the time we got there, we were starved. We hunched over a home cooked meal from our host family. The main dish: a strange color green soup with some form of meat and lots of bread on the side. It was delicious. I never would have tried it, if I were not in a foreign country. I went to bed with a new belief that everyone should experience studying abroad because some things cannot be taught, they must be experienced.
I woke up the next morning thinking, “This will be an adventure.”
Throughout my trip I saw temples in Prague, and walked through art museums in Austria. I do not remember every painting I saw in that museum in Austria, but I do remember sitting in front of a painting contemplating about the different brush strokes I learned in class and how beautiful the artist painted the water lilies with those brush strokes. I do not remember the name of my favorite temple in Prague, but I do remember how inspired I felt to learn more about Jewish history around Prague.
Departing back to the United States, I knew this trip would always be with me. I want to see new places and be in new cultures. Hopefully before I complete my college education, I can study in Scotland or Japan or maybe even Greece.
J
Bullies Beware, Teachers Really do Care
ReplyDeleteEntering school as a brand new student can be a terrifying experience for any child. As a 5th grade girl who hadn’t quite grown into her own yet, this experience was a nightmare. The week before the school year started, an abundance of tears were shed thinking about whether I would be a part of the ‘cool’ group when I got there. These girls were dressed in the best Limited Too and Abercrombie clothes and had the coolest sneakers Sketchers had to offer.
To my surprise when I arrived there on the first day the queen bee invited me to sit with the cool kids. I was besides myself with joy knowing that I had not only found a group of friends, but one that I was very proud to be a part of. This joy unfortunately was short lived. I became the butt of every one of their jokes and my Target clothes were quite up to their liking. I was miserable and was being made fun of everyday from the time I got there, until my mom picked me up at the end of the day. Names ranging from ‘gold digger’ to ‘piggy Paige’ were constantly thrown at me as I sat and took it.
Ms. Chandler walked through the door one morning announcing she was the sub for the day. It took until recess an hour after the day started for her to approach me about the bullying. She was kind and understanding and really wanted to hear about what was going on. We sat and talked about the girls that had been making my life a living hell. When the bell rang to go inside from the playground, Ms. Chandler literally looked at the cool girls and said to them “you are mean girls and I feel very sad that you feel you have to be this mean”. I had never felt so empowered to know that an adult cared enough about me to stand behind me and tell these girls that they were wrong.
I believe teachers that stand up against bullying change children’s lives.
All it took was one teacher to take a stand against mean 5th grade girls for me to realize I had more self-respect than to let myself get bullied. Seeing bullying now makes me sick. Picking on a child because they are different or simply because you don’t thing they are as ‘cool’ as you is wrong. Everyone has feelings and bullying cannot only hurt someone’s feelings, but it can ultimately ruin their lives. Thank you Ms. Chandler, for being that exceptional teacher, that without, I would have been miserable without.
By Paige Smith
“We all have dreams but not all are allowed to achieve them.”
ReplyDeleteI attended different types of high schools when I was preparing for college; one that stood out the most was a public school in Denver, CO named George Washington High also known as GW. What set this school apart from others in the district was the funding it received due to many factors such as above average test results, property value and alumni donations. In return, GW offered student’s great opportunities both curricular and extra-curricular that I never knew were available until I attended from 2007 to 2009.
The last three years at GW were amazing, I enrolled in college level courses that challenged students and prepared us for higher education. Because of courses like these I was able to study Psychology while still in high school and I am thankful for that since I am now about to finish my last year as a Psychology major. I still remember enrolling in a psychology course at GW, I was scared and had no idea what this course was about but Ms. Harmann the professor was well qualified, felt extremely passionate about the course and simply made learning the material fun and interesting. I still remember Ms. Harmann staying after school to tutor me and truly made me believe that anything was possible.
Another great aspect of a well-funded high school I was fortunate enough to enjoy was the extra-curricular activities. As a sophomore I joined the soccer team and even joined a road bicycling club with our gym professor. I can testify that those were some of my favorite experiences growing up and having that opportunity to learn from others, create life-time friendships and stay out of trouble. This was something that not all my peers from my ex-badly funded school were able to do; most kids back then would ditch class, hang out with gangs or simply drop out of school. Looking back I am thankful that GW pushed me and made sure I was always busy with college level courses, sports or applying for summer jobs. This was something I never experienced in my previous under-funded school because simply put our sports and gym programs were nonexistent due to the lack of funding that barely covered our most minimal needs such as chalk for our classrooms.
These experiences truly shaped me into the person I am today, because of GW I was able to learn from others and make it to a great University. This all started in2007, it is now 2012 and now a triple major about to graduate and enter a Master’s program in Social Work something that I only dreamed about before attending a well-funded high school. I truly believe that the most crucial time to reach out to our youth is as they are prepping for college and this will not be possible if all schools do not have equal funding and give all students in the U.S an equal opportunity as I was fortunate enough to receive.
-By: Fernando Martinez
This I Believe- The Role Of A Teacher
ReplyDeletePersonally, I have always been a bit more social than academic; however I do try hard to invest time into my schooling. My senior year English teacher understood this about me like no other teacher I have ever had. I believe that students learn best when they have a teacher that has faith in their ability to succeed.
Senior year is an exciting time for any young person about to graduate from high school. Naturally, I suffered from a bad case of senioritis by the time second semester came around, yet there was still one class that I was willing to work for: AP English Literature taught by Katherine Langford. She is a woman in her 60s, a slender build with a short brunette haircut accompanied with dark rimmed glasses. Mrs. Langford could tell right off the bat that I was going to be a vocal participant in that class, sometimes to the point where it was problematic. I struggled in that class and found it hard to grasp some of the concepts trying to be taught, so Mrs. Langford was more than willing to spend some extra time with me explaining in greater detail the concepts that I could not grasp in the classroom. We both put forth a valiant effort for the class which resulted in me being able to finish the year off with a grade that I was proud of. She never lost faith in me.
The memories with her in that classroom are countless, but it is my memory of her at my high school graduation that I hold dearest. She was one of the faculty members on the stage at graduation handing out diplomas. When I walked across the stage to receive my diploma, she hugged me and stated “You have no idea how proud I am of you.” That simple line was so meaningful to me because it made me feel as though she wanted me to succeed in class as much as I did.
This past summer I was able to participate in an internship at the horseback riding facility that I learned to ride horses at many years ago. It was the first time I have ever been able to take the roll of a teacher. Although teaching 60 pound children to successfully maneuver on a thousand pounds of wild animal can be slightly terrifying at times, it is unquestionably fulfilling. The experience in the classroom with Mrs. Langford gave me a great deal of confidence that I would be able to thrive in college and influenced my teaching habits in relation to horses. Seeing a riding student conquer the challenge of a more advanced horse is a satisfying accomplishment to be a part of and witness. Mrs. Langford believed in me, so I believe in the teachers that believe in their students.
Engaging a Class…Who Woulda’ Thought?
ReplyDeleteClass begins and I’m already bored. We’re going to read more of Homer’s “The Odyssey” today. I wouldn’t have a problem with that but we’re doing round robin reading which takes forever and is really inefficient for getting through an epic such as The Odyssey. On top of that it’s hard to pay attention with just monotone readers (no offense to them). But something is different.
Mrs. Jones seems really anxious and she can’t sit still. “Alright, we’re done. Not with reading, but with this classroom. Let’s go outside.” Well, off we go out to the courtyard. She wants people to try and act out the scenes we’re reading. Of course the drama kids jump all over that but it’s quite entertaining. We have a big burly guy playing Odysseus and a cheerleader playing Odysseus’s wife.
This was one of the few times I actually enjoyed reading or reading along. I felt engaged and wanted to see how other students would act out difficult scenes like the battle with the Cyclops or How Odysseus and his crew was called onto an island by the infamous sirens. But most importantly I wanted MORE. This was entirely different from any class I had taken before in high school. We weren’t just lectured to for an hour and beaten to death by a textbook. We interacted with the assignment we were given and had a fun time doing it. It was an eye-opener to say the least.
I experienced something similar to this in a college class about education. One day we came to class and Mrs. McQuinn asks us to drop the pencils, put away our binders, and come have a seat on the carpet. We all brought one little trinket or object important to us that holds a personal experience. We put all of the items in the center and people go around sharing their stories. Some of us broke down while others were uplifted. We all felt closer to each other and were more comfortable talking about certain issues that may have been touchy subjects to strangers. It prepared us for civil discussions about hot topics in education.
More interaction and a more hands on approach to learning, this is what I’ve come to believe as one of the very effective ways to teach a class and get students excited about learning. I never thought reading along with a class could be so much fun until that one day in Mrs. Jones’s class. I never thought I would get to know all of my classmates so well and so quickly until that day in Mrs. McQuinn’s class. I never thought that there was something more to teaching a class without lecturing or doing monotonous individual assignments in class until I started having more and more of these interactive experiences.
I thank Mrs. Jones and Mrs. McQuinn for opening my eyes and showing me that there is much more out there to explore and discover on my own and for planting ideas about how classes could be engaging and interactive.
Peter deNoyelles
A Crash Course in Life
ReplyDeleteHave you ever heard someone say “college will be the best four years of your life?” For many it is, as you get your first taste of true independence. But it can be more than just fun and studies. I believe that living for a year on-campus has already been an essential part of the college experience that has prepared me for life in the real world. How? Simply by teaching me to how to live with and understand people that I’ve never met before.
Dorm life introduced me to my roommate, who is still a good friend. We bonded over the year, becoming fast friends as we helped each other move in, went to our first party together, played against each other on the Nintendo Wii and as we studied for finals and eventually moved out. Even two years later we still stop and catch each other up on how our lives have been. Getting to know my roommate was also quite a mind-broadening experience. He was born in Mexico (and has a dual citizenship with Mexico and the US) - quite different from my life of living under the Rocky Mountains. During that fun-filled year I expanded my Spanish vocabulary (but I’m far from fluent) and celebrated Mexico’s Independence Day with noisemakers and confetti (which we kept finding all the way into April). We cheered and groaned as we watched reruns of the soccer world cup on our tiny dorm TV, from which I’ve gained a new appreciation for soccer. I remember watching the final while asking about the calls the referees were making. “Why did they just get a penalty kick?” I asked. “Off-sides,” he answered. Later: “Well what about that time?” “Bad call by the ref. He should know better. This is serious!” On the mind-expanding front, I also met his parents and brothers, and through firsthand observation saw the incredible importance that they placed on the idea of family.
My year in the dorms helped me in my first job. Before I started attending college, I was not the most social person. Now I can easily befriend and work with just about anyone. Over the summer, I worked for the City of Fort Collins Parks Department. But even as the temperatures soared into the 90s and 100s, I enjoyed my summer job, mostly because thanks to my roommate it was easy to get along and work with my fellow employees. I made several good friends that summer as a result.
I walked away from my first year of college with, in addition to fun memories and new knowledge, a better understanding Hispanic culture and an improved set of social skills. Looking back, I can confidently say that living on campus in the dorms for a year did nothing but benefit me, and would for anyone.
Russell Evans
Applied Knowledge
DeleteMy first year of college was a real eye opener, I was not ready for the way the material was presented to me. Class in high school consisted of getting some terms and regurgitating them on a test. I can honestly say I don't remember all of those terms that I supposed to learn. When I got to college and I had my first real class, I found out that it wasn't just knowing some terms but you had to apply them to the subject matter and then using these ideas create your own new theory. After one year of this I was surprised at how much of the information given to me in class I had retained. This came to make me believe that for students to learn something and retain it for further use, for use after a test, they must first memorize the material then apply it to life and the subject.
I went back home after my first year of school during summer and I was sitting in my friends apartment and we discussing who we could acquire some bud from. With our cell phones out there was a group brainstorming session, trying to come up with some one to call, we must have dialed every number in our phone and everyone we called was dry, finally we came into contact with some one who had some but his prices were outrageous he was charging almost double the regular price. This is when something I had learned in my previous year at school popped into my head. In my macro economics class I had learned about supply and demand, the higher the demand and the less the supply the higher a producer could conceivably charge, for their product after seeing that connection in my every day non-school related life I realized that when you are trying to learn something if you want to really know what the concept is then you need to know more than the definition of the words but how they work in other sort of situations.
Now when I study a subject first i learn the terms and memorize their definitions, then I try to go back and understand how they connect to each other and how this impacts the subject as a whole, this way of learning is better for long-term retention, not to mention that I actually enjoy learning this way it makes me feel like I have actually gained knowledge which is something I never felt I did in high school. One thing that really excites me is when I connect different subject together, this make me feel like I am gaining a better understanding of how the world works.
Self-Motivation In Learning
ReplyDeleteIt seems like yesterday when I was back in first grade sitting in a circle with my classmates, learning to write the alphabet. And I can easily recall when I was in junior high, and our small group of saxophones had to analyze a piece of music for the halftime show. In each incident I can remember myself thinking “I can get so much more done working alone than in a group”. Still to this day, even after fifteen years in the educational system, I find individual work gives me a drive that group work doesn't. This self-motivation is something I strongly believe in, as explained in my next two experiences.
My first experience was two summers ago when I took a course at the Pingree Park campus here at CSU that entailed a lot of group work. The third week of the course, each cabin consisting of four roommates were grouped together to work on 4 large projects. The first project was on spruce-fir community day. All the groups loaded up into 5 white vans and headed through the mountains, up in elevation to where dense spruce-fir trees dominated the landscape. Once at the location, everyone piled out of the vans and was instructed on what to do for the day. My group and I set off into the forest sampling dead fallen trees, measuring diameter breast height of trees, and counting standing snags. During these measurements, one member of the group was responsible for the calculations. Knowing these calculations would show up on the final, I made an attempt to understand them. But since the other group member completed the required assignment, I had no motivation to learn the material. This lack of drive to teach myself was reflected on my final exam score being low. Other people excelled in the group environment, but I lacked the self-motivation to learn the material for myself, letting the other group members do the work. My other experience last semester was different in several ways.
Last semesters statistics project, counting for almost half of my entire grade was a very successful individual project for me. All semester long the teacher reminded us of how large the project was, and that we would each be individually working on it. I began working quite early on the project but still found myself the night before the due date, crunching numbers in my room. I wasn't in a panicky, frantic scramble to put together a C project, but rather I wanted to thoroughly understand and turn in a well put together assignment. This drive given to me by working alone translated over in the class by me getting an A overall in the course as well as on the project. I definitely wouldn't have put in as much effort if the assignment was a group project.
Even after fifteen years and countless group projects, I always find myself more self-motivated while working alone, pushing myself to the limits.
Nate Carpenter
I will never forget the first day of my freshman year of high school. Between the excitement of finally reaching high school, the anxiety of the chance to meet new friends, and the nervousness of starting new, harder classes, I was a mix of emotions. One of my first classes was Civics, which beforehand I was more excited about lunch afterwards than the class itself. As soon as I walked in, my friends and I couldn’t help but notice our teacher. “Mrs. Holiday” was wearing a light green blouse and skirt, small shiny heals bright pink lipstick, and a huge grin on her face. One of my friends near me snickered, “She looks like Tinker-Bell.”
ReplyDeleteLittle did I know what the year ahead held for me in that freshman Civics class. Mrs. Holiday had a passion for her students unlike any other teacher I had had before. She knew how to teach. She knew how to engage us and gain our interest. She had a passion for teaching and didn’t want to see anyone fail or fall behind.
What I loved most about Mrs. Holiday was the ways she urged us to participate. She had creative ways to make our brains really wrap around what we were learning. She made us want to be part of it. We played “Amendment BINGO” every Friday, with the prize being not only extra credit but also a delectable bag of M&M’s. Being the competitive person that I am, I know that I would not have been able to memorize the Amendments as easily as I had without that weekly push to win. Another memorable way that Mrs. Holiday had us participate was by having groups of us make a campaign ad, as if one of us were running for election in the 1800’s. This pushed us to look at campaign ads in a different way than we ever had before, while giving us the chance to be creative and have a lot of fun along the way. Once Mrs. Holiday had us all participate in a week-long mock trial. Each of us had a role to play, whether it was a jury member, the judge, a lawyer or a witness. It was a blast and also one of the most memorable educational moments of my life.
I believe that participation is key in education. I look back through my school years and realize that outside of Mrs. Holiday’s classroom, many of my other most memorable educational moments were those where my teachers urged us to participate. They were times that I was encouraged to do more than just read out of a textbook, or take a multiple choice test. I look back at all I have gained from those experiences and am thankful for those teachers and the lessons they embedded in my mind through taking that extra step; through pushing us to take part in our own education. I truly believe in the power of participation.
A Lesson from my Tenth Grade Algebra Class
ReplyDeleteSitting there at the desk, staring at the computer screen, watching all the numbers blur into one big mess, I felt my heart drop. I hung my head and tried to comprehend what this meant for my future. I knew my math scores were not up to my usual level, but compared to everyone else’s exam scores it seemed as though I was going to receive an "A", no questions asked. Unfortunately, that was not the case.
As an overachiever in all aspects of my life, especially within school, I understood the impact of an “A minus” compared to an “A”, mainly on my grade point average. I was lucky in the sense that learning always came easily to me and I never had to spend hours solving a single problem or question. When I entered tenth grade, however, I quickly discovered that the expectations my math teacher had for me were of a higher standard than I was accustomed to. So, I dedicated myself to my schoolwork, often spending long hours sitting at my desk working through endless algebra problems. I started to feel a sense of satisfaction that I had never experienced before; I was confident in each assignment I submitted, because it was of the highest quality I could produce.
When the end of term approached, I was anxious to learn what grade I had received. I will never forget the moment when I loaded the grade book and saw the “A minus“. I felt as though all my hard work had gone unnoticed and that I had wasted my precious time on worthless algebra problems.
The next day, when I spoke to my teacher about my grade he said, “Katie, I’ve seen the effort you’ve put into this class and I’m going to reward you by giving you an 'A'.” At that instance, I felt all of my emotions from the entire semester bubble over and I started shaking. Gratitude and happiness pulsed through my veins as I sat there, still in shock that I was going to receive the grade I had worked so hard for.
Because of my tenth grade math class, I believe in the value of a strong work ethic. It is rare for one experience to influence our futures, but my math class had that impact on me. I realized that hard work and effort always pay off, even if the benefits are not immediately recognizable. I completed my high school career with a 3.98 GPA, a scholarship to a top research institution, and most importantly, my steadfast work ethic. Today, I see all of my successes, small or large, as the result of my work ethic developed years ago in that class. I am eternally grateful for the opportunity my tenth grade math class presented me; not only did I learn how to solve an algebraic formula, I discovered the value and benefits of a solid work ethic.
Katie Bacon
Learning Below the Surface
ReplyDeleteBAM! My backpack and I were forcefully smacked into the blue metal lockers. Terrified, I shuffled down the hallway as my assailants snickered. As if starting public high school wasn’t hard enough, being pushed into lockers by upperclassman girls wasn’t making my debut any easier. Unfortunately, being pushed around was something I quickly got used to,
“Some people say that they have trouble taking exams, and need exceptions because of their ‘special needs’. Well you know what I say to that? Tough shit, life is full of exams, so you better get over it.”
This quote was spoken by my high school auto shop teacher, Mr. Skillings, on the first day of sophomore year. After my somewhat traumatic freshman year experience, I decided to break out of my comfort zone and take a shop class. However, upon hearing this quote, the folly of my thought process set in. The only thing I could think was: “What the heck did I get myself into...”
About a week into the class, our first assignment was given. The next day, I was face to face with the most menacing of beasts: a Ford Taurus station wagon. Confidently, I grabbed a wrench and went to work. After a few fruitless minutes, I could hear the echo of condescending snickers from the upperclassman girls the year before. Eventually I admitted defeat, and slunk back into my old quiet shell to watch my groupmates work.
As the weeks went on, my confidence grew. I suggested new ways to take out parts, and navigated the tool room like it was the back of my hand. Instead of spectating, I jumped in elbow deep into grease and showed the boys how it was done. I even ended up TAing for future classes, using the confidence and knowledge from my first year to help others learn.
The value of an experience cannot always be measured by how much knowledge is retained, or what grade is earned. What’s more important is things that cannot be taught explicitly in a lesson plan. I use my confidence that I gained from that class every day. If I was still that timid high school freshman, I never would’ve packed up and moved to Colorado. I never would’ve stepped out of my comfort zone to talk to my dormmates, who eventually became my best friends. I definitely wouldn’t be the outspoken young woman I am today.
That awkward, shy freshman will always be a part of me. But every day, with every challenge, that window of awkwardness is becoming smaller and smaller. My confidence and success in college can be credited to one unlikely man: Mr Skillings. The things I learned below the surface in that dusty auto shop are worth more than anything found in a text book. This I believe.
-Lindsay Jones
Breaking Through to Achieve
ReplyDeleteWith students chattering in the seats around me, I nervously awaited the beginning of my junior year history class. Others had warned me about how my teacher was and how hard she was, but I still followed through and took the advanced section. The door swung open, and the room quickly fell silent as she approached the front of the class with authority. Becky Langford grabbed her favorite utensil, the stick, and declared that we were in advanced U.S. history for the next year with her. My excitement grew exponentially at that point.
Over my academic career, I have taken a plethora of classes ranging from culinary arts to architectural design to U.S. history, and none of them have captivated me as much as her classes. She didn’t just teach the class, but she readied us for the road that was ahead. I was a very timid, reserved student for the most part – if I didn’t understand or feel like talking, I would keep to myself. She pushed me to break out of that norm and challenged me to go further. Through mock trials, in class arguments, and classroom demonstrations, she forced us to open up more and speak out. I was put in the front of the class of almost 40 of my peers during a mock trial, and I had to question and argue like a lawyer for nearly 45 minutes with two other classmates. The butterflies that built up in my stomach were fluttering more than they had ever before, but afterwards, I realized I built it up more than I should have. I feared speaking in front of other people, and she saw that barrier and encouraged me to break through it.
Challenges are essential to human nature because they help you grow as a student and as a person. Without them, life would not seem as fulfilling. To overcome something is a strong positive feeling, and I think that everyone should experience it. In specific, I believe academic challenges help shape future academic goals and guide the person into a better direction. Since meeting Ms. Langford, I have pushed myself harder to study in college, meet new people, and I have encouraged others to do the same through my previous tutoring position. I helped my brother overcome studying issues and made him make deeper connections to apply to other subjects. I hope that these interactions affected him and the other students in a positive fashion.
I believe in challenging yourself through education. I see it all too much that some students just get by without trying, but it’s much more fulfilling to come out on top and know that I had achieved so much. It may not be the easiest course, but growth can be attained much more. Without the initial prodding from Ms. Langford in high school, I would be the same timid student that just slid by.
-Blake Howard
A Do-It Yourself Schooling
ReplyDeleteWhen I was a young stubborn teen I tended to think of my most valuable thing as an expensive materialistic item that I thought was irreplaceable. Today my piece of value may have changed but my belief of why these items to me seemed so irreplaceable has not. People use to ask me, “if you have a fire in your house and you have time to only grab one thing what would it be?” I probably would have said something like my brand new laptop or my high definition TV. These were logical to me because I had spent so long working and saving up money that it created this unimaginable value to these items. I may have been a little naive to how truly replaceable these items were but my beliefs were in the right place. It was this idea that led me to believe that the greatest things of value are those that you have paid for and earned.
The fear of a raging fire does not even come close to being able to harm what I believe to be of value to me today. What I value the most now is my college education. This is because I have managed to do something few people end up doing. Not only am I a full time student, but I am a full time manager of a retail store as well. So with every time I find my polished desk in a new class room it becomes not just another day on campus to me, but instead opportunities to learn new lessons and experiences. This is what I’m working so hard for, so I might as well get the value out of my quickly spent money.
Waiting to get my acceptance letter in the mail or walking in for the last time at my community college to receive my associate’s degree. These are moments I will always take with me because I managed to do this without debt. This is not something that comes easy and without sacrifice. It becomes very time consuming but I believe it makes me greatly value the education I’m receiving. This is because the money is coming directly out of my pocket.
Every day rain or shine I enjoy whatever it is I’m doing because I have learned to take pride in what I do with my work and education because I’m fighting to achieve great things in both. I may not have all the time to stop and smell the roses or sit under a massive tree just enjoying its shade but I wouldn’t have it any other way. This has shaped who I am today and the strong work ethic I carry with me at all times.
My experiences have shown me to believe that my education has become such a valuable commodity to me because I have paid for it. I will have earned the right to look back and say I put myself through college and came out standing.
-Nick Pflipsen
The Power of Personal Relationships
ReplyDeleteSurviving my senior year of high school proved to be quite an arduous task. During that year, my bi-polar disorder took a strong grasp on my life and I was unable to release myself of it, which made juggling school, sports, a job, an eating disorder, and forcibly living with my boyfriend extremely difficult. As with most 17 year olds that live without parents, I delved into the world of explicit substances and skipping school. My former 3.80 GPA dropped down to a 0.00, and I found myself without any hope for my health or my future. But then, one day I decided to go to the select few of my classes that I enjoyed, one of which was anatomy. When class ended, I asked my teacher, Mr. Barringer, about the fact that my carotid artery had begun to consistently spasm. His response took me completely by surprise and changed me for the rest of my life.
Instead of a scientific explanation as to why my pulmonary system was acting hypertensive, Mr. Barringer shuffled me into the hallway and gently laid his hands on my shoulders. At that point I knew that this was not going to be a talk about anatomy. He looked me in the eyes, slightly tightening his grip on my arms and told me “You are not alone in this.” After a couple long breaths, he explained to me that a very close family member of his had struggled with similar mental disorders and he shared with me his perspective as someone who cares for a sufferer of depression. His eyes began to fill with tears as he told me deeply emotional stories about his life, and how his loved ones got through them all. His tales ranged from childhood to married life; from death to hissy fits; from finding the right anti-depressants to simply changing eating habits. We stood in the hallway talking until the school bell rang, informing us that he had spent an entire class period with me while his other students wreaked havoc in his classroom. We took this as our cue to end our conversation, but not after he gave me one of the most endearing hugs I have ever received.
From that point on, I did not miss one anatomy class. Mr. Barringer had shared something truly remarkable and personal with me, and for that I respected him deeply. My new-found respect for him made me want to learn from him, and made me want to succeed in his honor. That year, not only did I get a 97% in his class, but I learned so much more: He taught me how to make myself truly happy, and for that I owe him everything. He was more than just an anatomy teacher to me—he was a mentor, a father figure, and an inspiration for academic success. Because of Mr. Barringer, I passionately believe that building personal relationships between teachers and students is vital to success in all aspects of life.
-Victoria King
Books and Quiet: To Learn in a Webbed World
ReplyDeleteThere’s a part in Hamlet when Ham-boy goes on an off stage sea voyage and in many ways comes back Hamlet the adult. I read this piece in my twelfth grade English class near the end of my senior year and it seemed to stir something up within me.
Hamlet had spent his time before this trip stuck wallowing in life’s unfair ways and wondering if life was even worth living at all. But when he comes back from this voyage it is clear that he has set some of these unanswerable and sad questions aside and that he has accepted certain troubling things in his life. He decides on killing his Uncle for the avengement of his father, which may now seem like a cruel and childish thing, but for Hamlet this was him becoming an adult, becoming a man of action.
I was mostly idling in various spots with friends at this time either staring at a game screen or drinking. School work and caring about much in general, were mostly on the periphery of my focus; though I still found many reasons to pout about my life and the world’s condition in general.
But reading Hamlet sort of kicked me in the head a little bit. There was no great epiphany with fireworks and grand music, but seeing these large questions of life and death and human relations dealt with in a piece of writing that is over 400 years old really engaged me. Hamlet got me to wonder and think about important lifespan-enduring issues about how people function and how people should function with each other in this large world-- issues that all adults have to face at some point. This subsequently drove me to want further insight.
This was near the beginning of my “higher education” journey, so when I got to school I was excited to learn and gain something. Being idle and cynical about personal and world problems is easy to do, but working towards a decent end is hard. But it is the right course of action.
In this hyper-connected time it is very easy to get caught up in the internet; or as it’s commonly called, the web. Friends and entertaining media are constantly and always just clicks and dials away and this can be a good and comforting thing, but a person also needs quiet uninterrupted time to consider the world and break it down into manageable pieces; alone time with books can facilitate this.
I have found more truth, sincerity and answers regarding the “real world” within the realms of fiction and all books in general—answers and hints to questions that really tug at our guts, however (un)aware we are of these questions—than I have ever found in news shows or most other forms of contemporary entertainment.
I believe in the truth of books and all the excitingly necessary quiet and introspection that come along with them. Profound learning and truth-finding most often come with quiet reflection.
Bridging the Gap with Antarctic Nematodes
ReplyDeleteThe day I learned about Dr. Diana Wall and Antarctic nematodes was the same day I learned what effective communication can do for scientific research.
As a high school student looking for the perfect college, I first came across Dr. Wall in an article on Colorado State University’s website with this headline: “SoGES Director Leaves for 21st Research Season in Antarctica.” After some research of my own, I discovered information about the School of Global Environmental Sustainability, the renowned CSU ecologist Dr. Diana Wall who founded the school and a research laboratory, and the Antarctic soil nematodes she studies to learn about climate change, soil biodiversity, and sustainability. Dr. Wall seemed like an ecology super hero I could only imagine meeting – and I thought for sure that the weird looking nematode worm things were an alien species.
A full year and many college applications later, I found myself a thousand miles from home and about to start my first day in Dr. Wall’s CSU laboratory. Now I’m assisting in her Antarctic research projects and I even worked on my own project about nutrient cycling in those soil organisms like nematodes. The chain of events that lead me to my goal all started with simple pieces of communication – a website, a headline, an article, and a photograph.
I believe that learning effective communication techniques can bridge gaps in academia and bring more understanding and inclusivity to all scientific research.
Communication is essential to both scientific research and academia but is often forgotten in weighty jargon and abstraction. I had always noticed a disparity between scientists and those not directly involved in academia, but I didn’t truly learn the importance of communication in science until I had to become a scientific communicator myself.
I had knots in my stomach the entire week before I was due to present the results of my experiment at a research symposium with other undergraduate researchers. Judges from many different fields of study would be evaluating my presentation, so I had to practice explaining myself in a way that would make sense to anyone – I didn’t want to misrepresent my hard work by slipping up on a technical term or fumbling through a data table. I thought back to why I became interested in the Wall lab in the first place. I remembered the website, the headline, the article, and the photograph, and how those simple tools taught me about a brand new world that I came to love. I decided that the best way to communicate my research would be to personally invite the judges into this world, show them my passion, and simply immerse them in my ideas. In doing this, I shared a piece of knowledge from my laboratory, which hopefully drew a connection to some aspect of their lives or research. Scientific connections are not created solely under a microscope; they are created in personal interactions.
Now, having finished my first year in the lab, I know that nematodes are not an alien species and are in fact much more than weird looking worms. I also know a little bit more about how to communicate scientific ideas with all levels of learners and how imperative that communication is to progress.
-Deanna Cox
I Believe in Academic Trash Talk
ReplyDeleteI believe that the people you surround yourself with determine your academic success. In high school I was a part of the IB program, which was advertised as a program that would more than prepare me for college, but that would get me a year’s worth of credits. This only happened because I was surrounded with a community of people who took their educations so seriously that their love for learning spilled over into all other aspects of their lives. As a close community of around 100 students who were in the same classes all four years of high school, we formed very close relationships, and I met some of the most amazing people I have ever known. We discovered some unique study habits that perfectly blended an incredibly competitive environment with an equally encouraging one. One night, my friend Ze challenged me to a homework race by sending me a message on Google mail. Amused, I accepted his challenge, suddenly filled with a new zest to finish the essay on Dostoevsky’s Crime and Punishment. We kept each other constantly updated with our progress. “What’s your thesis?” “Wait so, what are your main points?” “I’m in the middle of my second body paragraph, bet you’re just in the middle of your intro. Good luck trying to catch up!” Our academic trash talk would continue assignment after assignment, and more and more people became a part of it. Eventually my circle of friends and I had competitions regularly, and we also became comfortable enough with each other that we could share our grades with each other and push each other to get better grades. My friend Brooke got a C on an English paper and was in frustrated tears after talking to the teacher about it. We made a joint effort to cheer her up, notably Jasmine making facetious comments about the teacher.
Because having people who are as dedicated to school as I would like to be was so perfect for me in high school, I have made sure to seek out such beneficial relationships in college. I am a part of the Honors Program and lived in Academic Village Honors last year. Two of my current roommates are from my hall last year, and the other, who I’ve known since first grade, is practically a genius. We are incredibly proud of our nerdiness, complete with playing Trivial Pursuit on our balcony on Friday nights. I feel as if I need to maintain my grades in order to retain the title, “nerd”. I now know what I need to do to be an outstanding student. I need to be around people who set goals for me that are higher than those I set for myself. I know I can’t let them down, so it’s guaranteed that I won’t let myself down. I have set myself up for success through my relationships with the incredibly tenacious, intelligent, and charismatic people I have been lucky enough to call my classmates and friends.
Jacklyn Watson
DeleteClimbing the Social Totem Pole: A Nerd’s Journey Through Education
ReplyDeleteGoing through middle school as a book-loving band geek isn’t necessarily the easiest thing to do. The stereotypical bully shoving the nerd into the locker isn’t exactly how it played out, but the cretins of 7th grade did find a way to bully their prey. I’m a strong believer that if we as students were taught to be more accepting of everyone at earlier ages, schooling would be a much richer experience for everyone involved in education.
This one time, everyone that was on the honor roll got these little calculators that had our names on them. It wasn’t anything special, just a cheap little basic calculator. I was very disappointed when this kid Nate stole it from my backpack and demanded I pay him five dollars or else he’d take it home and never bring it back. I wasn’t his first victim; he just targeted anyone on the honor roll. Another time, a kid named Lance wrote some vulgar phrases all over the back of my group’s team history poster. After having a nasty talk with my teacher and parents, I confronted him and he said it was because we were band geeks and should get a life.
My expectations of high school bullying had been carefully molded by years of TV, movies, and my middle school experiences so when I started my freshman year I was already ducking and covering. Almost immediately I realized the huge change in atmosphere. I was shocked. What’s this? There were no freshman swirlies? I wasn’t getting beat up because I was in the marching band? Not only that, but it was actually viewed as a good thing if you were in any extracurricular activity, sport related or not. The roles had flipped and the losers were then the ones that wouldn’t do anything with their lives. As an added bonus, in my particular school anyway, just about the only successful extracurricular was band so I dare to say we were even on the more popular end of the spectrum.
This was one of the best feelings of my life and I only wish I could have felt this relaxed about what I cared about years before. I spent the rest of high school basking in a torment-free atmosphere, making friends with people I’d previously pegged as ‘too cool’ to be friends with, searching for what I wanted to do after high school, and of course, embraced my inner nerd.
Apparently a few decades ago there was even less acceptance of people, whether it was the color of their skin, the type of clothes they wore or what kind of things they did for fun. I’m not saying it’s great now, but at least it’s getting better. With any luck at all, decades from now, students of all ages and personality types will be able to be at ease as they walk down the hall and truly flourish from even earlier ages.
By Zach Petersen
Education Through Experience
ReplyDeleteMost of my friends haven’t been to a foreign country, at least not for longer than a vacation. Unlike most of my friends I have been abroad twice for an extended length, both times gaining school credits, a new language, and most rewardingly, a new perspective. My most recent trip abroad was to Senegal, a country found on the coast of West Africa just south of Mauritania.
As a requirement of the study abroad program, I had to spend a week living in a rural community. I was placed with Sophie, an agroforestry Peace Corps Volunteer living in a village a few miles outside of Sokone. After an exhausting five hours spent roasting in a crammed car, I arrived in Sokone to meet Sophie to make the trip back to her village, Niokholohko. Niokholohko has a population of 200 people and although they have access to clean water, there is no electricity.
Nearly every family in the village have cashew fields and/or mango trees which supplies a small income. I watched as the cashews were harvested, prepared, and brought to town to be sold. In Sokone, the most common languages are Wolof and Sereer, but many others are used, especially at the weekly market. I watched as Sophie’s host mother communicated in different languages to successfully sell her cashews. Throughout the rest of the week, I saw how knowledgeable she was regardless of her formal education.
Education shouldn’t be defined by the amount of years spent in school. I believe the true measure of an individuals knowledge is in what can be learned from them.
Sophie’s host mother didn’t receive more than a few years of basic schooling. She had four children and had never been more than a few hours from her village, but boy was this woman smart! Whenever Sophie or I asked her how to say something in Sereer, the local language, she quickly responded and easily explained why or which words it comes from or to which it relates. As if that wasn’t enough, she could (and frequently would) say the word in Wolof, Jola, Pulaar, Mandinka, or sometimes French. This multilingual mother would be deemed illiterate and poorly educated by the standards I grew up with in the United States.
Perhaps her intelligence can’t be assessed on paper but thanks to her I have come to realize that often times the most valuable knowledge comes from those I least expect. As quickly as I can change between Facebook and this paper she can transition from talking in her native tongue of Sereer to the diverse languages of Wolof, Pulaar, Jola, or Mandinka.
Maureen Pawlicki
Marching to the Beat of My Own Drum
ReplyDeleteThe year was 2001, I was nine years old. One warm summer morning, my mother woke up my sister, Amy, and myself. She had decided that it was time that we learned to play an instrument. I remember the process of purchasing my instrument vividly. This vividness may be in part to the fact that I was not happy about having to play an instrument, the feeling that I was once again being “forced” to explore the unknown by my parents. When we arrived at Meeker Music, there was a snare drum waiting to be picked up for me, and a flute for my sister. As I took home my drum, feeling defeated, I had little idea of the impact that music would have on me.
As I grew with my instrument, I began to notice a few clear benefits. In middle school the drums became a way for me to express my emotions and let out anger. Whenever I finished practicing playing the kit, my mother would know exactly how I was feeling based on how loud I was playing, and the tempo I as playing at.
One day, in sixth grade math, Mr. Krevalis had us take a timed multiplication quiz. Myself and the other percussion player were the first two to finish. Krevalis stated, “That’s why my kids play instruments, because it improves your math skills.”
In high school, my respect for the arts and music was solidified. Out of the twenty-two students in my Advanced Placement English Class, eighteen were in the music program at my high school. During senior year, the funding for our arts department was significantly cut. Instead of mourning over what we would be restricted to do financially that year, the music department not only raised thirty-five thousand dollars for a new grand piano, but an additional seventeen thousand to buy a new wheelchair for our counselor with multiple sclerosis. Raising over fifty thousands dollars in my last two semesters of high school not only taught us music students the importance of teamwork, but also what we were capable of achieving when we set goals.
Eleven years, over half my life, has passed since that day that my mom drove my sister and myself to Meeker Music. Not a day passes where I do not at least dedicate ten minutes out of my day to touch the keys of my piano and sing along. Whether music made me into a better person, that is based off of one’s opinion. However, I do believe in the positive power that music and music education hold. In the short time I have been on this earth music has changed my perception of what I am capable of doing, and of who I am. While I believe in music, I believe more in the person that music can help us to become.
John Bradley
ayo obigbesan
ReplyDeleteSeptember 5, 2012
Transformation To Be Disciplined
My core belief is that education brings about transformation. Transformation implies a basic change of character and little or no resemblance with the past configuration or structure. The transformation happened when I failed a chemistry class, retook it and passed it in the summer because I learned that you have to prepare yourself to go the extra mile to get things done.
As a high school student coming into my freshman year of college, I had no idea of what was in store for me. I still had the mentality of easy work, not knowing that things were much harder than I was usually used to. Chemistry class started out great until right about the third week of school when everything started getting harder. The teacher assumed that everyone had had some sort of chemistry background in the past, so he felt no need to cover the basics. Though I went to his office hours for help, he didn’t explain much but always referred to the book.
Even though I had a bad experience with that teacher, I learned a good lesson from it. It didn’t really hit me, until I retook the class in the summer, that I didn’t need to be in this situation and I could have done way better. I would say this transformation actually took place the first day of summer classes.
I was sitting in class thinking to myself that I shouldn’t be here right now wasting my time; instead I could be using that time to take another class. I knew that something had to change and I needed to start taking responsibility for my actions. I was motivated in the fact that I did not want retake that class again so I started doing things differently. I actually studied more, went out on my own to work on problem sets, did more practice homework and researched on my own to get the answers that I needed. Doing things on my own transformed me into a better person in the sense that it made me work harder and be more focused and evidently that actually helped my grade because I ended up getting an A in the class. I am grateful for that transformation especially at that particular time because it prepared me for many more experiences I would face the rest of my college experience. It is even better if we teach ourselves because it forces us to go out on our own and find the answers to our own problems.
This transformation has not only improved my education, but it has made me a more disciplined person.
Beyond the Curriculum
ReplyDeleteFrom a young age, our educational system molds us. It helps us grow as individuals and is a vehicle for us to find further success in careers. Education is a fundamental part of our childhood and what we learn from it, we take with us for the rest of our lives. My belief is simple; with education playing such an integral part in our lives, teachers are severely underpaid and undervalued.
In Colorado, teachers have been on a pay freeze for years, yet their workload has remained constant, if not increased. My mother is a teacher so I see first hand just the amount of time outside of “school hours” that teachers put in for their jobs. It is a tireless job with minimal financial benefits.
I have always done well in school, but generally once a class is over, most of the specific knowledge learned from that class slowly disappears. I can tell you that Carl Rogers was a famous psychologist, but I can’t tell you what he was famous for. I can’t recite all the endless math formulas that I learned over the years, nor can I tell you how many protons each element has. The truth of the matter is these things are not important to what I will do for the rest of my life.
What is important though; what I am able to tell you, is all that I learned from my teachers outside of the classroom. Some of the most important relationships that I have formed in my life have been those that I have formed with my high school teachers. In my senior year, there was a scandal involving a teacher that many students were close to, including myself, that shook everyone. I was class president at the time and someone that other students looked at in times like this, and I remember being visibly upset. My english teacher pulled me aside and taught me something that I will never forget. She told me to be strong in the face of adversity, especially when in the position of authority or where people are looking up to. She told me she knew how tough it was for me, and how in life I am going to have things that may tear me up inside, but sometimes I have to be strong for everyone else. She taught me what it is like to have other people in mind and to protect them and do what’s best for them before myself. She taught me how to be strong for my children in the future.
Relationships like this are not uncommon. The lessons that I have learned from my teachers cannot be summed up and placed into any curriculum, but are founded on trust. These lessons are not things that are going to help me academically, but they sure will help me with my family, my kids, and with my job. That’s worth some extra money, is it not?
by Craig Buchanan
Social Networking Non-Facebook Style
ReplyDeleteWhat I remember most and what really shaped me throughout my education, has been my interactions with my teachers, peers and family in the school setting. I believe that social interactions in school are important to development and education throughout life. In today’s society, technology is becoming prevalent in daily life and even in schools. There are online courses to take, complete online schools, IPads/laptops/IPhones to distract or help you in class. In the fast pace of our culture today, these devices help make our lives much but that also means it is more important than ever to maintain social interactions.
Having just moved from South Carolina to California at the age of ten, I was realizing there was more than just a difference in the scenery my first day of fifth grade. A teacher had called on me asking me personal questions. With every response I gave, some of the kids in the class would snicker at me and I had no idea why. Did I have something on my face? At recess that day, a classmate of mine, Courtney, came up to me and asked me why I talked a little funny. Apparently the slight ‘twang’ in my speech was strange for them. I in turn asked why everyone had been laughing at me in class.
Her response was, “’Cause you were saying ‘ma’am’ every time you answered the teacher’s question.”
Social interactions teach us social cues such as communication, and mannerisms that are necessary for daily communication in our culture throughout life. I grew up a Navy brat so learning to socialize was a necessary adaptation when moving to a new state every three years and my “ma’am” incident was the first one I remembered that obviously displayed that. By socializing with my peers at my new school, I would learn what their cultural social cues and mannerisms were compared to the state I had just moved from.
September 11, 2011 is a day many Americans will never forget. Not only do I remember what I was doing and how my family sat in the living room and prayed for the families in New York but I remember going to school and seeing all my peers’ reactions. When I arrived at school I was fine, I was only eleven at the time so I don’t think I had really comprehended what was going on yet. I walked into my English class and my teacher had the television turned on to the news. As we were watching one of the towers burning and smoking a bunch, we saw what looked like debris falling from the side of the building. My teacher’s face went somber all of a sudden.
The news camera zoomed in and we saw it was not debris but a person. I wasn’t fine after that.
I believe that social interactions in school are important to development and education throughout life. By being around peers and adults in the school environment, you pick up on social cues such as communication as well as mannerisms such as responsibility and leadership. Social interactions also play a role in one’s emotional development based off of how others around them react to certain situations. These daily interactions are important because they take part in shaping who we will be for the rest of our lives.
Getting to Where You Want to Go
ReplyDeleteOne thing in life is for sure, our personal experiences help to shape our lives and build character. For me school has been that experience. Growing up the daughter of a Special Forces ranger, I am very familiar with change and relocating. By the age of two I was living oversees in Scotland and within’ a year, moving again. I was not familiar with any particular school; one second I would be there the next I would be gone. Finally my family and I ended up in Pasadena, Maryland. I had the opportunity to establish myself in a middle school and later what I would know as, Chesapeake High. Go Cougars! I had a steady group of friends and a wonderful house on the Chesapeake Bay to retreat to. For once I was able to settle in but it wasn’t until I left my senior year of high school, that I was able to reflect on where I thought I needed to be and who I wanted to become. I knew that I wanted to go to college especially being that my older sister opted for the army and my father is the only one in my immediate family with a College degree. In the past I was so use to moving and enrolling in new schools, this influenced me to hop into my packed Honda Civic EX and cruise across the country.
I relocated in Colorado where I had intent to start and finish college. Heading back into the curriculum and speaking with an advisor I came to understand that as an out of state transfer student there were definitely going to be limitations and a few speed bumps along the way. I believe that it is within these particular instances, while experiencing college, that we truly discover ourselves and come into our own as individuals. College is an adventure and throughout these past few years, has always guided me in the right direction.
Amongst those “limitations” was finding out that I needed to have lived in the “Centennial State” for two years before I would be considered for in-state tuition. Anyone who has experienced even a little bit of college can relate to the fact that school can get expensive. In order to gain residency I made the decision to take a break from school. I reflected on my journey leading me up to where I was. Living in Westminster, CO, with a borderline psychotic roommate, Christina, whom I met through one of those “forrent.com” websites and waiting tables for some pretty decent money at Ted’s Montana Grill, yeah I definitely envisioned things going a little differently. This did not reflect my ideal situation and so I enrolled in Community College at Front Range in order to get back into the swing of school, baby steps they say. I decided to make one more solid move after a full year in Westminster and to this day (4 years later) I resided in good old Fort Collins, CO.
Throughout my history in College and more presently at Colorado State I have come to understand that it is meant to be experienced in any way that leads you to a positive decision in life. Although school started off rough for me and even though I took time off, it allowed me to reevaluate my priorities and lead me to where I am now which is 1.5 years away from getting my Bachelors at the “green and gold”, CSU! I am focused and determined. Though there may be limitations and speed bumps along the way, I believe that it is within these particular instances, while experiencing college, that we truly discover ourselves and come into our own as individuals. Sometimes that may mean taking chances and allowing life to just happen, or simply taking some “baby steps” along the way.
Rachel Brooks
Hands on learning
ReplyDeleteI recycle everything. I bring home bottles I find on the ground, plastic spoons from to-go lunches, and trash my roommates forget to put into the recycling bin. Looking back, I wonder where I learned to recycle. I can only recall one memorable event in my life. A sixth grade kinesthetic outdoor field trip. I believe that through a hands-on learning experience, children are more likely to become passionate about a subject urging them to find ways to incorporate that concept into the rest of their lives.
In sixth grade all of the elementary schools in the county got to spend a week with another school up in the mountains. Everyone looked forward to this trip, and each year they counted down the years until they too were in sixth grade. When it was my turn, I stepped proudly into the bus as if no one could bring me down because I was on my way to Outdoor Lab. We learned about trees and animals in the local ecosystem, from ponderosa pines to red tail foxes. We even learned about the constellations and hear their stories while gazing up at them.
I quickly gained an interest for the environment and all it had to offer. There was one particular activity that I remember that made a huge impact on me, when a group of my classmates and I were learning about recycling. We learned why it was necessary and the implications it could have on our planet. We sorted different materials into their appropriately labeled containers and was shown how easy it was to make a simple step that would contribute to the world’s health. By recycling, fewer resources are used and less garbage is left to pollute the planet. We were told about the positive impacts that recycling can do, and we followed our activity with a hike to a pristine, magical lake. We were the ones who could help keep places like that beautiful.
Through that experience I found a love for the outdoors and the environment. I am now majoring in Environmental Sociology so I can pursue a career that will allow me to continue helping the earth. I got to experience this at a very influential time in my childhood, feel in love with the environment and had fun doing it. Getting to romp around in gorgeous mountains surrounded in fresh air was the most excited I have ever been to learn. I was shown nature in its most natural form, which made me want to do my best to preserve the earth that shelters us. If not for this experience, I do not know if I would feel the same about the environment as I do now, and I believe that having kids interact hands in the subject that is being taught is the most successful and influential way to learn.
Destinee Rugar
More Food on the Plate, More to Eat
ReplyDeleteGrowing up as a kid I always had a notion that I needed a solid amount of time to set aside dedicated to rest and relaxation each day to adequately perform in school and athletics. Looking back, I couldn’t disagree with my old notion more than I do now. I believe most people could cut out a good amount of free time to do more, and in return they would be rewarded with success and achievement. With that being said, I strongly believe that by doing more each day, weather that be school, athletics, or work, one can achieve tasks at a higher level of success. I believe in this notion so strongly because I not only experienced this success but I was also taught to do so by a more credible source.
As a freshman in college I wasn’t too sure what to expect as I entered my first class, SPCM 100, I notice that my professor was a short young professor that seemed eager to teach. One could immediately tell by the excitement and passion in his voice and his over exaggerated gestures. The first day of class he introduced himself and gave us his background while putting an emphasis on doing more, with his own life as an example. He described his first three years of college an action packed party that needed little attention to school. He proclaimed his life took a sharp turn when he was forced to take 18 credits with an extracurricular, as well as having an internship that required much concentration and time. Apparently all his daily hard work and focus kept him in a positive mind set, made him feel great, and eventually rewarded him with a 4.0 GPA, better than he had ever done. All this hard work also kept him from spending a lot of money and allowed him to save up.
My professor’s story inspired me to take more credits the next semester on top of working at SEARS, and playing rugby for CSU. Needless to say I was real busy. I spent less time lollygagging and more time getting serious. I spent restless hours sweating at the gym and on the field for rugby, I buckled down and read and wrote papers. I even put my game face on while at work and sold more equipment than I ever had previously. At the end of the semester, just like my teacher, I had collected adequate funds from work and ended my semester with a better GPA.
I had cut out a significant amount of free time from my daily schedule to further involve myself in academics, athletics and extracurricular, my life was more fulfilling and I experienced a greater bout of success. From my personal experience this is one of the greatest life lessons that I have learned and this is surely what I believe.
Tyler Scruggs
No Title
ReplyDeleteWhen I was 14, the only thing more daunting than facing puberty was facing high school algebra. Surrounded by others who seemed perfectly able to comprehend the dizzying digits and mathematical operations, my usual A-grade range sank to a C. Any attempts at asking for help were stifled by the frustrated tone that slipped between the explanations most instructors gave.
I had surrendered to what I felt was the inevitable and decided to take a remedial math class, but I still needed approval from my current math teacher. Mr. Lawrence was a relatively unseasoned educator who had somehow mastered the ability to control a classroom of rowdy teenagers. We respected him because he wasn’t afraid of treating us like adults. He knew we were capable and his simple expectation of excellence drove many to meet it. His praise was uplifting and desired, but his correction was so sharp that it acted as a catalyst for change in even the most stubborn of students. I had had him as a teacher for two semesters in a row, something that rarely happened at my high school, and so I felt certain that he would understand my inability to comprehend Algebra.
I explained my feelings of inadequacy and held out the little pink paper that would confirm those feelings. For just a moment he ignored the paper, his gaze remaining fixed on me.
“Let’s go out into the hall.” He finally said. What had I done wrong? The students closest to his desk looked up from their math work sheets, just as confused as I was.
I followed him outside of the classroom, my stomach knotting as he closed the door behind him.
“I will not sign that paper,” he said with such conviction that I knew I was about to be challenged by him. “I could get in big trouble for saying this,” He glanced over his shoulder and lowered his voice, “But I know the kind of student you are and I know the kind of students that are the remedial math class, and you do not belong there. I will not let you give up and I will not let you fall behind. If you want, I can work with you every day after school until you understand algebra, but I simply will not sign that paper.” The intense look in his eyes added an unspoken exclamation mark at the end of his sentence. “Ok?”
I nodded. Nobody had ever had as much faith in my ability to do math as Mr. Lawrence did. Everybody had given upon me and convinced me to do the same. I believe that sometimes students need a teacher to believe in them more than they believe in themselves. And that is exactly what Mr. Lawrence did. He did work every day with me after class until I got an A in algebra. He saw the capacity I had to learn and helped me see it too.
Today, I still see the effects of Mr. Lawrence’s belief in me. I will never let another person convince me to give up on something that I can do. I focus more on those that support and believe in me than on those that don’t. And I trust that with a little help, I can conquer college mathematics just like I conquered high school mathematics.
Jana Lusk
“This I Believe”
ReplyDeleteGeneral education is very important throughout grade school, middle school, and high school because it molds students such as me, so when and if students decide to extend their education into higher learning, the transitioning process will come a lot easier. Sure enough, general education got me through to the next level each time it was time to transition, but I also had a great deal of help outside of schooling. I often found myself at after school programs, community centers, just to get a little help extra help so that I was learning at the same pace as other students. Till this day I am grateful for those extra opportunities that were presented. It allowed me to be as successful as any other student. This is why I’m obliged to credit those who helped me, and return the favor by helping other kids who just need that little extra help because I too was once that child and even today in higher academia I still need support.
There was an occasion where I was struggling to the point of almost giving up with school forever. I remember back to when I was a junior in high school. I was ineligible to participate in the first half of basketball season because I did not meet my classroom requirements. Not being able to play or practice with the team hurt me, and I began to feel discouraged because I was not happy. I was so mad at my coach and I had no desire to work harder in the classroom to become eligible to play again. Until one day I bumped into an old mentor of mine at our neighborhood park and we began to talk. Less than halfway through our conversation, I sensed his disappointment with me. With no hesitation at all he made a few phone calls.
The next day I found myself sitting in a counselor’s office talking to a counselor for over an hour about my strengths and weaknesses. That whole conversation, the counselor was writing out a blueprint. The whole time I was unaware of what he was doing. I had an agenda to keep up with now. Starting with visiting a tutor 3 to 4 times a week, practice with my mentor every day, and providing my coach and mentor with weekly progress reports. That whole semester felt like an eternity but hard work does pay off. I followed through with the strict schedule and I found myself right back on the basketball court where I was most happy.
That experience alone is why I am so grateful to have had those rights opportunities presented to me. Words cannot describe how pleased I was with myself and with my mentor for connecting me with the right help that placed me back on the right path. Having that extra guidance can only help a ready and willing individual in need.
Joshua Bond
The Band Family
ReplyDeleteWhen the 3:00 bell rang, I grabbed my backpack and instead of climbing onto the bus like the other students, I briskly made my way toward my favorite hallway where I could hear music getting louder with each stride. It wasn't my favorite hallway just because of the music, it was the people playing it for the past four years of my high school career that made it the best place I knew. I was always greeted with hugs and smiles and usually passed a couple of mallets to join in on my main instruments, the vibraphone, xylophone and marimba. Not only was I a member of the band as a percussionist, I was a member of the close knit band family and we all took care of each other.
This day was humming with excitement more than usual though; it was our Finals Competition held at the Invesco Field in Denver. With butterflies in our stomachs we all obliged in helping load the huge instruments into the pit truck. On the very rare occasion, it was quite the drawn out process on the days I had to push and shove those metal and wooden beasts up the truck ramp myself, but when we worked together, none of us minded a bit. Come what may, from wheeling the instruments around in the blazing heat or dragging them through the thick Colorado snow to our band competitions, we would press on knowing we were all in it together. The arms on the clock went on overdrive that day when my pit squad and I met up with the drum line. We couldn't have another care in the world when we played together. On our way to the competition, we silently stared at each other with huge smiles while we banged out our music drills in unison on the back of each other's bus seats with drumsticks. I remember laughing as we looked over our shoulders to see the dust clouds we made from our silent performance as we always did for competitions.
After scurrying around unloading and setting up our equipment, we all breathed as we huddled together right before entering the stadium field realizing it was our last performance ever. The harsh florescent lights hit us as we made a red and blue circle forming a tight woven ring with our arms outstretched on the shoulders of one another. Our chanting echoed like a stampede of wild steers in a canyon; our rivals knew we were ready for our best performance yet. And with heads held high and fire in our eyes we marched out into the sun and endless grass. Our notes thundered across the stadium creating music that struck me deep in my heart that day. As the crowd roared with excitement and awe, tears welled in my eyes not because we had won, but because we achieved this dream as a team.
Kelly Peterson
Viva España
ReplyDeleteA few years back, just after graduation, I went abroad to Spain with several classmates for two weeks. We traveled from Madrid all the way to Barcelona, just soaking up the beauty, culture, food, and the sights of every city we stopped in along the way. We rode the metro, visited museums and the sea; we even ate a paella dinner beneath La Sagrada Familia after a day of wandering through the shops and watching street performers on Las Ramblas. However, the most influential part on me was neither the art museums nor the history, but the experience I had while spending a day in Pamplona.
Every city we visited, my best friend and I made a point of losing ourselves with nothing but our maps, purses, and the desire to saturate every fiber of our being with the culture around us. In hindsight, some would say that was an awful idea, but there was so much culture we would have missed if we played it safe. On our adventure we wandered the streets looking through shops, asking locals for places to eat, and buying trinkets to bring back to our families. In one hole in the wall shop, we stopped to chat with the adorable old lady that owned it. My seven years of Spanish lessons in school had never been so useful or appreciated before meeting this woman who didn’t know any English beyond “hello,” “goodbye,” and “thank you.” We sat for hours discussing her work, her family, and about the very tangible excitement and anticipation of the upcoming Running of the Bulls celebration (yes, the very one Hemingway wrote about!). She had invited us to return to Pamplona in two weeks when the run was to take place, offering us free room and board with her and her family for the entire celebration.
As she continued to describe the event and the anxiety she felt when her youngest son participated in the run the previous year, I found myself to be so thankful for my ability to speak her language and the opportunities it created for me. During that afternoon, I realized that this idea of traveling abroad and exploring the locals’ world would have gone completely undiscovered and scratched only the surface of what Spain has to offer. This privilege to expand my horizons and engage in other cultures through language provided an extension to my education that I feel everyone should experience. It was while I was sitting there in that tiny shop, on a hot July day, that I formed my belief in everyone having a chance at these opportunities that arose simply from studying a second language in school.
Janna Anderson
The Feminist and the Catholic Church
ReplyDeleteFrom grades 1st to 8th I attended the Catholic middle and elementary school Holy Family of Nazareth. As a Catholic school it was small, conservative, religious, and very by the book…the Bible that is, it was no place for Mrs. Solis-Sublette. On the first day of class my 7th grade year Mrs. Solis-Sublette began by introducing herself as Mrs. Solis-Sublette then proceeded to rant about the administration only letting her go by Mrs. Sublette so as not to confuse students with the hyphen. This quickly divulged into how society as a whole wished to put women down by forcing them to change their names during marriage (her husband also carries the hyphenated name, she refused to only take his name and insisted that he take hers as well). By early afternoon it had quickly spread around school that the new English teacher was a crazy feminist.
The first week of class proceeded very similarly; Mrs. Solis-Sublette was quite opinionated and had no issue sharing these opinions with her 13-year-old students. Within the first week the class discussed abortion, a topic fully off limits in a Catholic school. This consisted of Mrs. Solis-Sublette sharing her well-constructed views then challenging the class with our thoughts. Upon hearing that we were all against abortion (we were 13 and in a Catholic school, what else were we going to say?) she then stated that we were either assuming our parents opinions or that we had let ourselves be brainwashed by the Catholic Church. This was how she opened when she taught argumentative writing. From there she outlined her argument on the board and began to teach the class the difference between our argument, essentially abortion is wrong because we’ve been taught that it’s wrong, and her argument, which included outlined points and statistics. It was also the first time that “God said so” didn’t count as evidence; we were all confused it worked so well in religion class.
Needless to say Mrs. Solis-Sublette was soon blacklisted by the conservative, religious parents of HFN. Within the first month she had already had several parent-teacher conferences where concerned parents would stress the importance of focusing on curriculum and staying away from sensitive subjects. These conferences did nothing to change the atmosphere in her classroom and instead bolstered her resolve to be as vocal and opinionated as she pleased. By December it was clear that her contract wasn’t going to be renewed which was a loss for the future students of HFN.
Sometimes controversy is needed in order to learn. Although her methods were unconventional and sometimes borderline offensive there was never a dull moment. Criticism from the parents made her more determined to show that not only would learning take place in her classroom with her teaching style but that we would also learn more from her than anyone else. While we learned writing style and how to construct papers she also taught us not to be afraid to express our opinions.
Corrie Houser
The involvement of parents...
ReplyDelete“But mom,” I screamed at her, “I want to go back to preschool!”... I remember the day that my parents decided to home school me more clearly than I remember a single other memory from that early part of life. At the time it seemed like the end of my life and the death of hope. However, their decision to do so is why I believe that involved parents are not only important in elementary school through high school, but in college as well.
I will never forget my mom trying to teach me to read. I was so stubborn as a youngster that she must have wanted to kill me the umpteenth time she tried to get me to read what was actually on the page and not whatever word I was making up in my head. Looking back in my older years has made me realize how lucky I was to have her as my teacher. She never gave up on me and she always supported me. This is why I believe that supportive parents are a key to good education.
I also remember my dad being the teacher that so few friends of mine had. He was a teacher of the world. He never taught me an equation or corrected my english papers but he taught me how to take an engine apart and put it back together. He taught me why water runs the way it does on land and how to manipulate that movement. He taught me why the economy works and where the ups and downs of said economy come from. My dad taught me common sense and then some. I believe that parents need to be involved in their kids’ lives to teach us the things that school can not.
I stayed in Fort Collins my freshman summer; not something most people do. And while part of my decision was influenced by the fact that I am more of a city boy (my parents are farmers), the real reason I stayed was because I knew that my parents had equipped me with the necessary tools to be responsible and to live on my own. I believe that good parents can help their children to be successful, no matter the situation.
When I came to college, I decided to go into education. I was given an education that I truly believe I could not replace! How better to appreciate that education than to learn to help give that education to somebody else. My parents to this day have continued to support my belief. Involved parents make a child, teen, and young adults life more understood. That is why I believe that there is nothing more important to the higher education experience than parents who care. They help to support and guide us in a world they have already been through.
Royce Hoffner
I Believe in Music Teachers
ReplyDeleteEducation has a mixed definition in my life. When I think about learning and the experiences in my life that I count to be the most educational, the first thing that comes to mind isn’t a classroom or textbooks. When I was four years old I found out that I could climb up onto this strange wooden bench, and that these black and white buttons on a big wooden box would make noise when I pushed them. Before long I had figured out that the bench, box, and buttons were called a piano and that I could pick out the notes to every song on Sesame Street. Next thing you know, I am with my mom on my way to meet a woman that would forever change the course of my life, Mrs. Ogg. I can driving to the house and I remember being totally terrified of a brand new place with strange new people, but when I got there and when I walked up to that door, Mrs. Ogg was standing there, waiting for me with a smile.
I believe that the right teachers make all the difference.
When I was five, I started taking piano lessons from a very amazing lady, Mrs. Ogg. How anyone in their right mind would willingly sit down at a piano with a five year old is very much beyond me, but she did. Week after week, she sat there with me at that piano bench with patience and care, helping me to learn and grow. Things started slow, but one hand became two, one page songs became two page ones, one lesson book became two, and this continued on for thirteen years until a five year old boy was an eighteen year old high school graduate. It all sounds great, but there were things that weren’t always perfect. There were times when I didn’t want to play the piano anymore, and at one point I told my parents that practicing was dumb and that I was going to go tell my teacher that I would be quitting. But when I got to my lesson that week I realized that everything would be okay, because when I walked up to that door, Mrs. Ogg was standing there, waiting for me with a smile.
I believe that teachers don’t ever stop teaching as long as you never stop learning.
I am a little older now, old enough to realize that I should have practiced more… And old enough to realize how lucky and blessed I was to have a teacher that cares so much about me and believes in me. I still see Mrs. Ogg all the time, and I am very thankful for her impact in my life. I think it’s great to know that no matter what, if I need some advice and instruction from my teacher, she will be standing there, waiting for me with a smile.
Luke Huskey
One Teacher Made All The Difference
ReplyDeleteLike most 14-15 year olds, I was starting high school, except I was moving to a different state. I had trouble making friends, especially with people who made good decisions. Eventually by my junior year, I told myself that I needed something better than this. I dropped most of my friends who were involved in drama, drugs, alcohol, and smoking, and started to figure out what I wanted.
Without friends, school wasn’t any fun and I became to withdraw from people. No one seemed to notice since I was getting good grades in my class, participating in sports, and being respectful. I didn’t enjoy starting conversations and I was feeling depressed, so I ended up staring at my notes.
About halfway through the first semester, in my chemistry class, Mr. Gainley pulled me aside to talk to me. I was kind of scared, thinking that I was in trouble, and had begun thinking about what I possibly could’ve done wrong.
To my surprise, the words that came out of his mouth were, “Is everything alright? You don’t seem to have as much energy and you aren’t talking as much in class. Is everything alright at home? If you need anything you can always talk to me”
I stood there listening to his words carefully. He sounded like he really cared, not about my academic wellbeing, but my emotional one. I told him no I was fine and genuinely smiled.
After that, I started paying more attention to class and I would go to the classroom at lunch every day, even when I was no longer in his class. He would ask how I was doing and tell me about his family, especially what his adorable daughter Sydney did that week. One time he told me how Sydney was going through a Jonas brother phase and wanted to marry all of them. We would end up laughing and having fun.
The fact that he cared about me as an individual, really impacted my life from that moment on. I started to enjoy school and fell in love with chemistry. Because I started to become interested in chemistry, I took an AP chemistry class, joined Science Bowl and Science Olympiad, just to learn more about it. I made lifelong friends in the class and clubs who love science as much as I do.
Even after high school, Mr. Gainley still affects me. I asked him about advice on deciding a major, which is how I started chemical engineering. I still email him every now and then to say hi, just to let him know how thankful I am.
I believe having a caring teacher, who sees a student as an individual and forms a personal connection to them, can make education a better learning experience and inspire the student to achieve. I don’t know if Gainley remembers my life changing moment, but it has changed me for the better.
By Crystal Jager
Social Networking Non-Facebook Style
ReplyDeleteWhat I remember most and what really shaped me throughout my education, has been my interactions with my teachers, peers and family in the school setting. I believe that social interactions in school are important to development and education throughout life. In today’s society, technology is becoming prevalent in daily life and even in schools. There are online courses to take, complete online schools, IPads/laptops/IPhones to distract or help you in class. In the fast pace of our culture today, these devices help make our lives much but that also means it is more important than ever to maintain social interactions.
Having just moved from South Carolina to California at the age of ten, I was realizing there was more than just a difference in the scenery my first day of fifth grade. A teacher had called on me asking me personal questions. With every response I gave, some of the kids in the class would snicker at me and I had no idea why. Did I have something on my face? At recess that day, a classmate of mine, Courtney, came up to me and asked me why I talked a little funny. Apparently the slight ‘twang’ in my speech was strange for them. I in turn asked why everyone had been laughing at me in class.
Her response was, “’Cause you were saying ‘ma’am’ every time you answered the teacher’s question.”
Social interactions teach us social cues such as communication, and mannerisms that are necessary for daily communication in our culture throughout life. I grew up a Navy brat so learning to socialize was a necessary adaptation when moving to a new state every three years and my “ma’am” incident was the first one I remembered that obviously displayed that. By socializing with my peers at my new school, I would learn what their cultural social cues and mannerisms were compared to the state I had just moved from.
September 11, 2011 is a day many Americans will never forget. Not only do I remember what I was doing and how my family sat in the living room and prayed for the families in New York but I remember going to school and seeing all my peers’ reactions. When I arrived at school I was fine, I was only eleven at the time so I don’t think I had really comprehended what was going on yet. I walked into my English class and my teacher had the television turned on to the news. As we were watching one of the towers burning and smoking a bunch, we saw what looked like debris falling from the side of the building. My teacher’s face went somber all of a sudden.
The news camera zoomed in and we saw it was not debris but a person. I wasn’t fine after that.
I believe that social interactions in school are important to development and education throughout life. By being around peers and adults in the school environment, you pick up on social cues such as communication as well as mannerisms such as responsibility and leadership. Social interactions also play a role in one’s emotional development based off of how others around them react to certain situations. These daily interactions are important because they take part in shaping who we will be for the rest of our lives.
Brittany Penn