My Most Impactful Teacher by Madalyn

My Most Impactful Teacher by Madalyn - January 2025 Scholarship Essay

Though I have had many impactful teachers over the years, the one who stands out the most to me is my pre-calculus/calculus teacher Ms. Kohn. Ms. Kohn is one of the few teachers who valued my way of learning and allowed me to figure things out the way that was best for me; additionally, she would answer my questions after class; give me pointers on how I could be better; and pushed me to pursue a career in mathematics, which I still intend on doing. She has been my most impactful teacher and is the reason for my passion for mathematics.

Ms. Kohn, despite having a set way of teaching, always allowed her students to learn in ways that were best for them. For some this was solving the equation on the whiteboard so that they could see it all right in front of them, for others it was sitting at her desk talking through the problem with her, and for me it was staying at my desk and working it out in my head until I had it right. Ms. Kohn always let me work through things this way, occasionally asking if I needed any help but knowing that I enjoy figuring things out on my own. This way of teaching allowed me to figure out what works best for me when it comes to schoolwork, and it was something that I was able to bring into all of my other classes. I was also very shy, especially since I was in a class full of upper classmen, and while she did push me to answer questions in class to bring me out of my shell a bit, she was always available after class in case I needed help or had any questions I hadn't been confident enough to answer in class. She always pushed me to do my best, whether it was showing me a different way to solve something that might make more sense to me, showing me how to further simplify my equations, or printing me off an ACT practice test when I asked her to, I could tell that Ms. Kohn always wanted me to succeed. I had loved math before ever stepping into her classroom, but she is the reason that my love turned into a passion, she turned math into something I would like to pursue rather than just something that is fun to do.

Ms. Kohn always wanted me to succeed and always supported me in my mathematic pursuits. She has impacted my education in so many ways, some that I'm sure I haven't even realized yet, and for that I am extremely grateful to her.