I would complete my required homework, memorizing only the required elements so that I could pass the exams. Once I was done studying for the day, and often when I wasn't, I pursued my interests on my own time. The readings that I was asked to read always took me much more time than those that I did for pleasure because I did not try to make them interesting. This could have gone on for a long time and I would have continued to separate my education and not take ownership of it if I didn't have teachers who asked me to start taking ownership of my education. They asked me to choose my own topics, under their guidance, for research or writing. It was something I had never done, but it suddenly made me go from separating myself from my studies to accepting it wholeheartedly. This change came more out of necessity than real pleasure, at first, because the only things I understood enough to talk about were topics I had researched or read about outside of school. There is a saying that if a student comes into class and only does the required work by listening and doing homework, then he will not retain any knowledge because he never participated in the