Who was your most influential teacher? Why?
A great teacher is not one who influences your mind but the way they touch your heart.
Teachers have always been inspiring right from my kindergarten teachers way into adulthood. I have always had teachers who left a little something of them in my heart. Unknowingly I would imbibe a quality, endearing advice, or valuable anecdote from the life of a teacher.
I remember once a teacher would put everything aside to regale us with stories of her childhood one such, was a story of a tiger. We were so wide eyed and enthralled with her story we flooded her with questions and to tell us more. She also connected it very cleverly to a chapter.
My English teachers were most interesting for how they taught the language with such ease. We would learn how to summarize our chapters and know the meaning of our poems in and out.
Computers a new subject back then was introduced beautifully by teachers who were lively, enthusiastic and fun and we had the most energy and laughter during computer sessions.
My Sociology professors instilled in me confidence and taught me to trust myself and have faith in me.I could talk of endless experiences with teachers but I would take a pause if I had to speak of just one.
Even though every teacher I have ever had is dear to me one teacher left a special place in my heart. I was so enamoured by her I wanted to be her. She taught us Psychology in junior college a subject I loved learning even though we were learning only the basic. It was not quite the subject but it was how she taught it. She would come into class with the greatest of enthusiasm and a teasing smile that said the lecture would be interesting. She would almost always start with a question even before we knew what she was going to teach us about.
She sparked our curiosity and thirst for what the lesson might teach us. When she made sure she derived answers from us, she went on to explain the lesson. We almost felt we knew it by heart the way she led us into it. We were still young so she would hold our hand and carefully take us through a few notes which made us feel very confident to ace her every exam. Not only that she had a great sense of humor and she was always full of anecdotes and examples from life in general and some from hers too.
I said to myself then that if I ever became a teacher, I would want to be like her. She involved us in her class so beautifully that we would never tire of her lectures. She remains my biggest inspiration, my role model.
Are not teachers meant to do that have a happy heart while teaching and ignite our minds to know more without feeling as though we were studying? Although I never took up Psychology, my Psychology professor left an indelible mark on my life. I would never forget the person she was warm, kind, smart, funny, and confident. We all need teachers like her to help us grow and learn and stay curious always. Almost like a best friend.
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