The True Influence of Passionate Teachers by Cynthia

The True Influence of Passionate Teachers by Cynthia - January 2025 Scholarship Essay

Growing up history was never a subject I would call my favorite; that is until last year. My junior year of high school I joined honors U.S. History with Mr. Dapalito. I have never enjoyed a class as much as I did his. He was able to make learning an enjoyable experience. Mr. Dap, as we call him, doesn’t just teach from a handbook or a textbook, he teaches with passion, and that is the sole difference between him and most of the teachers I’ve had. He provides visual learning, priceless objects from different parts of history, great knowledge from his research, and games to give us a better understanding of the material. Having Mr. Dap as a teacher made a significant impact on my education because I was enlightened by raw history. I didn’t just interpret words from a textbook that I would forget the following day, I learned in ways that taught me I can go to school and still have fun, while also gaining a more in depth education. If this was a letter to Mr. Dap himself I would thank him for his unwavering dedication and passion for teaching. His lessons were always engaging and there was never a dull moment of learning in his class. Many people may find history boring, like I did because it’s filled with dates, people, and places that require memorization, but a person can learn to love history. Not only that, but also as a society we can feel inspired by our ancestors' hardships and achievements. Many people believe history is an unimportant subject but in some ways it’s the most important. Without history the following generations wouldn’t have the opportunity to learn from others' mistakes and overall how the world became what it is today. If it weren’t for Mr. Dap I would’ve never come to the realization that not all teachers teach in a dry and memorization focused way, because of this I will always be grateful to have had him as a teacher.