I want to tell you all a story about how I became who I am.
I remember being 12 years old sitting in class reading a book. The teacher pointed me out and said, “why aren’t you doing your homework?” I answered him by saying it’s already done. He praised me in front of the class, saying she will go far, that was the first time I remember being embarrassed for being praised.
I remember being 13, a freshman in high school and the teacher I looked up to so much telling me I could do so much better. Why was I selling myself short? For the first time I was ashamed for doing just enough to get by.
I remember being 17 and having the only teacher that challenged me that semester praise my poem, when everything else I had worked so hard on had been merely ok.
I remember being 20 and having my advisor tell me I would never be a doctor, why was I even trying.
I remember my teacher’s only goal for class was not to challenge us to teach us something new or to expand our horizons, it was to make me cry. To make me feel so small and stupid so that I felt like I could never succeed. I remember giving up. I remember telling myself that they were right and I couldn’t do this anymore.
I remember being 22 and finally knowing what I wanted to be when I grew up. I remember being confident in the things I had been taught and the way I had been raised and knowing that I would succeed.
I remember late nights filled with anxious fidgeting and gallons of caffeine, blood shot eyes and fingers cramped from typing. I remember skipping one class to finish a project for another, and sleeping through a third. Draped over textbooks and manuals in a library.
Every teacher I have ever had has affected my life in some way shape or form. Some for the better and some for the worse. Regardless these people have shaped who I have become. I know that this is a small compensation for all that they have given me but I want to say thank you to everyone who has taught me anything during my life. I hope one day to inspire someone half as much as you all have inspired me.
I remember being 12 years old sitting in class reading a book. The teacher pointed me out and said, “why aren’t you doing your homework?” I answered him by saying it’s already done. He praised me in front of the class, saying she will go far, that was the first time I remember being embarrassed for being praised.
I remember being 13, a freshman in high school and the teacher I looked up to so much telling me I could do so much better. Why was I selling myself short? For the first time I was ashamed for doing just enough to get by.
I remember being 17 and having the only teacher that challenged me that semester praise my poem, when everything else I had worked so hard on had been merely ok.
I remember being 20 and having my advisor tell me I would never be a doctor, why was I even trying.
I remember my teacher’s only goal for class was not to challenge us to teach us something new or to expand our horizons, it was to make me cry. To make me feel so small and stupid so that I felt like I could never succeed. I remember giving up. I remember telling myself that they were right and I couldn’t do this anymore.
I remember being 22 and finally knowing what I wanted to be when I grew up. I remember being confident in the things I had been taught and the way I had been raised and knowing that I would succeed.
I remember late nights filled with anxious fidgeting and gallons of caffeine, blood shot eyes and fingers cramped from typing. I remember skipping one class to finish a project for another, and sleeping through a third. Draped over textbooks and manuals in a library.
Every teacher I have ever had has affected my life in some way shape or form. Some for the better and some for the worse. Regardless these people have shaped who I have become. I know that this is a small compensation for all that they have given me but I want to say thank you to everyone who has taught me anything during my life. I hope one day to inspire someone half as much as you all have inspired me.
Great post and awesome video. I will definitely be checking out his website!