Cathedrals.
I've decided I wanna have this lecture to my students:
Have you ever had a goal that you've worked fervently for, something you really wanted to happen? It may be to go somewhere like Tanzania, or to own a mansion, or to drive a brand new Lexus. Something big. Something cool. Something awesome. Maybe you just want to have the satisfaction of doing something. You want to become a doctor, a lawyer, a teacher (God forbid that, we don't get paid), an athlete, a marine biologist...something.
When I was your age, I didn't know what I wanted to do, but I had it narrowed down to a few things. A writer, a basketball player, a soccer player, or a owner of a car dealership. Somewhere along the way, I got lost and wanted to be a teacher. I think perhaps I didn't get lost, but teaching found me.
I sat in a desk just like you, not really thinking about working hard, but if I had an assignment to do, I did it, so I could read. I got in my fair share of trouble, but I thought it was cool to be able to answer any question that a person might have. To this day, I try to learn everything I can in order to be better suited to educate anyone I may come in contact with.
To make these things happen, you have to have an inner drive to do this. A "work ethic" is what some may call it. "Passion" is another word for it. Putting on blinders and doing what you have to do in order to succeed. Sometimes that means doing what isn't fun. Take the most mundane (boring) task, and do it as well as you can. Defeat the doldroms.
Even I struggle with this. I have friends who want me to come out with them late into the night. We go out, we laugh, we joke, we dance, we have a good time. However, if I don't do what I HAVE to do, all that will go away. You have to balance the fun with the work. All work and no play makes Kurt a dull boy, but all play and no work makes Kurt a poor boy. The harder you work when you're younger, the easier it is when you're older. I wish I knew half the things I know now. Experiences teach you much much more than you could ever hope to learn at school, but your schooling allows you to put your experiences into perspective.
I never let you use calculators. You know why? Pretend all of the calculators disappeared. Would you still be able to do the math? Sure, they make life easy, but if you do math in your head and on paper a lot, you probably won't even need a calculator. I rarely use a calculator. When I grade your papers at home, I use no calculator, nor do I use the E-Z-Grader. I figure out your percents in my head or on paper. I actually find it more convienient to do it that way. Know how I learned to do it? By writing every step I took down. If I got it wrong, I had documentation of what I attempted to do, and I could see what I was doing wrong. So, not only could I think or say it, I could also see it, and I wrote it down, so I had all these different ways of remembering it. I can now do these types of things in my head, but it was only because of the hard work I put into learning it.
After listening to me talk about this, I want you to remember at least something. You are the person who is most responsible for how your life turns out. You can be the best you that you can be, or you can be the best somebody else. Being the best you that you can be will take you on a crazily wonderful journey with many ups and downs and twists and turns like a speeding rollercoaster. Being like everyone else means you're just another face in the crowd. It may get you a few nice things, or it may end up taking you nowhere. If you do what you know in your heart is the right thing to do, you will succeed. We all know about respect, honesty, encouragement, cooperation, and friendship. It's time we do the right thing and use it.
I wonder if they'd listen to that. I'd be all enthusiastic and jumping on desks and stuff, probably. At least being animated. I want these kids to succeed, but most of them won't, unfortunately. It's not entirely their fault, but they're not helping the fact. I just don't want them to become full of hate and lose all hope. That would be a travesty.
Much love!
Have you ever had a goal that you've worked fervently for, something you really wanted to happen? It may be to go somewhere like Tanzania, or to own a mansion, or to drive a brand new Lexus. Something big. Something cool. Something awesome. Maybe you just want to have the satisfaction of doing something. You want to become a doctor, a lawyer, a teacher (God forbid that, we don't get paid), an athlete, a marine biologist...something.
When I was your age, I didn't know what I wanted to do, but I had it narrowed down to a few things. A writer, a basketball player, a soccer player, or a owner of a car dealership. Somewhere along the way, I got lost and wanted to be a teacher. I think perhaps I didn't get lost, but teaching found me.
I sat in a desk just like you, not really thinking about working hard, but if I had an assignment to do, I did it, so I could read. I got in my fair share of trouble, but I thought it was cool to be able to answer any question that a person might have. To this day, I try to learn everything I can in order to be better suited to educate anyone I may come in contact with.
To make these things happen, you have to have an inner drive to do this. A "work ethic" is what some may call it. "Passion" is another word for it. Putting on blinders and doing what you have to do in order to succeed. Sometimes that means doing what isn't fun. Take the most mundane (boring) task, and do it as well as you can. Defeat the doldroms.
Even I struggle with this. I have friends who want me to come out with them late into the night. We go out, we laugh, we joke, we dance, we have a good time. However, if I don't do what I HAVE to do, all that will go away. You have to balance the fun with the work. All work and no play makes Kurt a dull boy, but all play and no work makes Kurt a poor boy. The harder you work when you're younger, the easier it is when you're older. I wish I knew half the things I know now. Experiences teach you much much more than you could ever hope to learn at school, but your schooling allows you to put your experiences into perspective.
I never let you use calculators. You know why? Pretend all of the calculators disappeared. Would you still be able to do the math? Sure, they make life easy, but if you do math in your head and on paper a lot, you probably won't even need a calculator. I rarely use a calculator. When I grade your papers at home, I use no calculator, nor do I use the E-Z-Grader. I figure out your percents in my head or on paper. I actually find it more convienient to do it that way. Know how I learned to do it? By writing every step I took down. If I got it wrong, I had documentation of what I attempted to do, and I could see what I was doing wrong. So, not only could I think or say it, I could also see it, and I wrote it down, so I had all these different ways of remembering it. I can now do these types of things in my head, but it was only because of the hard work I put into learning it.
After listening to me talk about this, I want you to remember at least something. You are the person who is most responsible for how your life turns out. You can be the best you that you can be, or you can be the best somebody else. Being the best you that you can be will take you on a crazily wonderful journey with many ups and downs and twists and turns like a speeding rollercoaster. Being like everyone else means you're just another face in the crowd. It may get you a few nice things, or it may end up taking you nowhere. If you do what you know in your heart is the right thing to do, you will succeed. We all know about respect, honesty, encouragement, cooperation, and friendship. It's time we do the right thing and use it.
I wonder if they'd listen to that. I'd be all enthusiastic and jumping on desks and stuff, probably. At least being animated. I want these kids to succeed, but most of them won't, unfortunately. It's not entirely their fault, but they're not helping the fact. I just don't want them to become full of hate and lose all hope. That would be a travesty.
Much love!