How My Favourite Teacher Made Me a Better Student

I commenced my journey as an average student from India in the warren township high school. It was the first time I was ever transferred to a new school. I can remember being completely nervous at the thought of adjusting to a whole new environment. When I met my biology teacher that morning, it was like being introduced to myself, just a lot more experienced version of myself, we had the same opinions on matters like sports and philosophical dilemmas, we enjoyed the same hobbies, and we were around the same age.

Throughout my academic career I had worked under supervisors and alongside of peers with varying levels of expertise, but none of them have helped me develop academically like my biology teacher at warren township high school, Mr Duray.

My teacher made it a point early in the semester to meet with on a weekly basis to gain few words of wisdom and discuss any problems or issues we were facing.

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During the first meetings he explained being a good student does not mean just doing good academically but making everyone else around you better. He said “ When a man wins it is just his success, but when a leader wins everybody wins.” After one of the meetings he told me that I would be taking over a project, of representing the biology class model of saving natural resources, for an individual who had left the class. While I saw this as a cleaning up someone else’s mess, Mr duryay saw this as an opportunity for me to show the skills he had been helping me develop.

Throughout the process of organizing, and implementing this project I was given just enough room to make small mistakes and learn from them without affecting the final outcome of the project. The experience I gained from this was invaluable at the time, and allowed me also to get an idea about the environment. It taught me to put my ego aside and ask for help when I needed it. At the conclusion of the project I was much more confident in my own ability to accurately and properly handle tasks that I could never even envision about.

Mr duray went above and beyond and made it his duty to ensure that I was adjusting to the new environment and would be an asset to every place I go. I began taking on more responsibility and become responsible enough to do my best in every class. I took extra tutoring in my spare time and started taking responsibilities of projects (Include what kind of projects) and campaigns from start to finish. With every accomplishment, I could start to see that it was my teacher shaping me all along. My principal saw what I was able to handle, and noticed I was eager to advance myself, and take on as much responsibility as I could. He even mentioned to me on a few occasions that my peers I worked with on the projects had sent commendations complimenting my ability to complete projects on a timely basis, and it was a pleasure working with me. My teacher saw this as an opportunity to push me even further.

My teacher was able to see that I learned best by performing the tasks myself, and would give me just enough support when it was required, but would not over extend himself, and monitor me at every step along the way. He knew I would come to him If I had a question, but as much as I didn’t like having solutions or answers handed over to me, he did not intend to hand out solutions. By forcing myself to take on these added tasks and responsibilities head on, it gave me the confidence to never give up and follow each task to completion.

My teacher and I had become close friends in and out of school. Sharing the same interests in movies, technologies, and most importantly sports, we would find ourselves reaching out to each other to solve complex issues. It was like I grew a third eye which captured me transforming from a oblivious, irresponsible, careless slave to the education system into the definition of a student defined by my teacher,who made not just himself but everyone around him better or at least tried. I specialized in bringing creative ideas and the teacher specialized in bringing the knowledge. Between the two of us we were able to create projects out of the box while remaining completely true. Our skill sets complimented each other, but the knowledge he gave for communicating, and the different aspects of a good student will stick with me forever.

I’m no longer a part of the warren township high school as I graduated, but I still keep in touch with my old teacher. He helped me grow and develop into the person that I am today. I had many other teachers who were great , but this man was by far the closest man I ever had to a mentor. He went out of his way to ensure I was developing skills that I can use the rest of my life. He always made himself available as a reference for me, and i can only hope that one day I will be able to return the favor to him or pay it forward.