Mr. L. was my Advanced Placement American History teacher during my junior year of high school. He was the first teacher for me, who made education more about learning and less about "getting the grades". In his class the only things that mattered were speaking your mind and opening yourself up to different opinions. What I got out of his class was a new love for teaching and learning as well.

In high school, it is very easy to sit in the back of the class, never talking or raising your hand, never becoming involved in the classroom discussions. It is even easier to get a good grade by spitting back information teachers dish out. But Mr. L. made it so that no one could hide--no one even wanted to hide. He did this by asking questions that sparked intense debates in which everyone in the class would get involved. Every student would leave his class still talking about what they had learned from the discussion, still debating into our next class.

Many teachers expect students to simply spit back information they learn, instead of allowing us to use our minds to form our own opinions. Mr. L. taught us that learning is about critically thinking analyzing, and forming your own opinion. He taught us that it is ok to disagree with your teachers as long as you have strong evidence to support your argument. Mr. L. was not special in the sense that he was the most brilliant teacher I ever had. But he made me think. He showed me that no one's opinion is stupid. He also taught me to be open to other people's opinions as well as to be patient when you disagree with others or when others do not understand you. Mr. L. is the reason why I want to become a teacher. I want to be able to get kid's minds thinking and to motivate them to want to learn, not to hide in the back of the classroom. We have all been that child at some point or another, and it is teachers like Mr. L. who make that child work to their fullest potential and bring them out of their shell.

Submitted by: Stacey Berkowitz, American University