The good, the bad and the teachers“Every child starts out as a born scientist, then we beat him. A few pass through the system with their wonder and enthusiasm for science intact. —Carl SaganDid you know? America produced a 5 cent bill... A hummingbird weighs less than a penny... A jellyfish is 95% water... Giraffes have no vocal cords... The penguin is the only bird that can swim, but not fly... There are 293 ways to change a dollar... You are born with 300 bones, but when you become an adult, you only have 206... The Apple seeds contain cyanide and it only takes 1 cup of seeds to kill an adult... You are more likely to get stung by a bee in windy weather than in any other weather... And the ellipsis is the most overused punctuation mark in English... If applicable If this sparked even a little bit of interest in you, even for a moment (an instant is the time it takes light to travel one centimeter in a vacuum, or about 33.35 picoseconds), then your inner desire to learn has not been completely extinguished. . This means that you have made it through the rigors of public or private education, virtually intact; however, many unfortunately do not. From early childhood through college years, sometimes all it takes is one bad teacher to neutralize the constantly absorbing, sponge-like mind with which we enter this world. Extinguish our burning desire, as humans, to acquire knowledge. All it takes is meeting a bad teacher to quit something that might have interested us, like creative writing, history, or math, and we would never give those subjects a second chance, thus closing a door in our life that could otherwise have been opened. further.To begin with, what is a teacher? Well, a teacher is one of the most important...... middle of paper ......ve the questions now. Perhaps then, someday far in the future, you will gradually, without even realizing it, work your way towards the answer" (Rilke p. 34-35). A teacher can make or break a student, and as a teacher you will greatly impact someone's life, for better or worse. So teach with all your might. Teach with the same patience, respect and enthusiasm. you wish. And remember: "If you can't explain it to a six-year-old student, you don't understand it yourself." of great things: recovering the sacred in knowledge, teaching and learning” In The Heart of Knowledge: Spirituality in Education, Ed. Tarcher/Putnam.Rilke, Rainer Maria, Franz Xaver Kappus and Stephen. Mitchell Letters to a Young Poet p 34-35 New York: Vintage, 1986..