156. Who is the secondary school teacher who has had the greatest positive impact on your development? Please describe the ways in which this teacher has influenced you. (Bowdoin College)
I was certain that I would get a perfect score in math. As the teacher passed out our answer sheets back with the score, I smiled with hubris, looking around disappointment on my classmates' faces. The teacher called out my name. I did not fold my answer sheet like others did to hide their score; I walked to sit on my chair and looked at my score with a certain assurance of a perfect score. Alas! I felt blood rushing quickly on my face. I must have made a careless mistake. My answer sheet showed a 99 out of 100. I quickly flipped through the pages and spotted a red pen mark. My 1 mark was deducted because I didn't simplify a fraction. It wasn't even a mistake!
My teacher surely said that she'll be lenient to give marks even if the fractions are not simplified. I looked at my friend's answer sheet; she did not get any marks deducted with the same mistake I had made. I immediately yet cautiously asked my teacher about her thoughts on this unjustly way of marking same mistake on two answer sheets. She looked at me with a gentle smile. I knew that that smile meant something, a sort of profound thoughts she always instills in me. She spoke to me so kindly. "Well, everyone is aware that you are smart in maths. I do know that you seek for perfection. But if you really do want to be perfect, be sure you look further than others do. Though I said I'll be lenient to others about simplifying fractions, I won't be lenient when it comes to you."
Her words struck me. I was so sure that I would get a perfect score. Yet, I had made a mistake of completing my work entirely. Anything that's incomplete is imperfect. I couldn't say whether she is fair or not; I could only accept the way she teaches me makes me spot imperfectness in my spurious perfection. Her words still remind me of the need to look further than any others can imagine, and this helps me to put in my best in everything I do, to try to achieve the real perfection.
I was certain that I would get a perfect score in math. As the teacher passed out our answer sheets back with the score, I smiled with hubris, looking around disappointment on my classmates' faces. The teacher called out my name. I did not fold my answer sheet like others did to hide their score; I walked to sit on my chair and looked at my score with a certain assurance of a perfect score. Alas! I felt blood rushing quickly on my face. I must have made a careless mistake. My answer sheet showed a 99 out of 100. I quickly flipped through the pages and spotted a red pen mark. My 1 mark was deducted because I didn't simplify a fraction. It wasn't even a mistake!
My teacher surely said that she'll be lenient to give marks even if the fractions are not simplified. I looked at my friend's answer sheet; she did not get any marks deducted with the same mistake I had made. I immediately yet cautiously asked my teacher about her thoughts on this unjustly way of marking same mistake on two answer sheets. She looked at me with a gentle smile. I knew that that smile meant something, a sort of profound thoughts she always instills in me. She spoke to me so kindly. "Well, everyone is aware that you are smart in maths. I do know that you seek for perfection. But if you really do want to be perfect, be sure you look further than others do. Though I said I'll be lenient to others about simplifying fractions, I won't be lenient when it comes to you."
Her words struck me. I was so sure that I would get a perfect score. Yet, I had made a mistake of completing my work entirely. Anything that's incomplete is imperfect. I couldn't say whether she is fair or not; I could only accept the way she teaches me makes me spot imperfectness in my spurious perfection. Her words still remind me of the need to look further than any others can imagine, and this helps me to put in my best in everything I do, to try to achieve the real perfection.
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