Teachers
February 4th
I love this guy — I mean, David Attenborough. Since the 1980s, I think I watched and re-watched all of his nature documentaries. Every single one was great, and with every new one, the advances in technology to film what he shows are nothing short of spectacular. I don’t think there is a person in my life (with the exception of Carl Sagan) who taught me more than Sir David. It is his infectious interest and passion and enthusiasm (that doesn’t require anything more than a soft whisper) in the subject of nature and biology and ecology that led me to explore them to serious depths. And I cannot wait for a new series to enjoy the visuals and learn even more and investigate a new subject that I didn’t even know existed and was of interest to me.
Watching the new series “The Green Planet” made me think about my teachers. I had a few good ones, a few bad ones, but most of them were just indifferent. Even if they had a lot of knowledge and the way to present it in an interesting way, it was always pretty obvious that teaching was just a job for them. What I learned most from my teachers was mediocrity — that it is best not to stand out either in a positive or a negative way because that will cause extra work for the said teachers, and they would have to show some effort. So, from an early age, I knew exactly what I have to do to get good grades and to be inoffensive in any possible way — be quiet in class, pay attention, volunteer answers (but not too often), and memorize what will be required on the tests. I mean, the results of the tests are the ultimate representation of whom a person is and what they will accomplish in life (yes, this sarcasm, but only just so…). And there is one more thing — I forgot the names and faces of my good teachers, but I clearly remember the bad ones. Their passive or condescending behavior towards me, their belittling words. Words that stung me as a teenager and still are very unpleasant just to remember thirty-plus years later. Come to think of it — those terrible teachers had more influence on me and my mental and personality growth than the good ones. And I actually had to find out by myself what it means to learn and research and think critically. No school and no teachers were of any help with that.
I cannot go back and relive the past. All I can do is to learn from the experiences and forget all the surrounding unpleasantness. I am glad that there were and still are people like David Attenborough, Carl Sagan, Neil deGrasse Tyson, Simon Schama in my life. People that can share in an easy and interesting way their knowledge and, in effect (without much effort) make me learn and explore new subjects out of my own will. They are the real and proper teachers and educators and my influencers.
