Prompt: Celebrate an example of excellent teaching and how it illuminated the subject you were studying. Why did it resonate with you and excite your intellectual curiosity? (300 word maximum)
Side note: I swapped my teacher's real name with "X" just to keep her privacy.
the world-explorer soul
For the first two years of high school, learning the Spanish language was a chore. No passion lied behind memorizing irregular conjugations and distinguishing between las palabras agudas and esdrújulas. Tediously learning every intricacy of grammar was dry, and the cultural experience that I longed for remained unfulfilled.
I didn't appreciate the beauty of Spanish until junior year, when my new teacher, Ms. X, stepped into the picture. She transformed a class revolved around verb tenses into a full-fledged immersion of Spanish culture. Like the curriculum, the dull walls of room 153 were replaced with vibrancy: decorations like skulls in celebration of Día de los Muertos and colorful posters depicting the Plaza de Toros animated the mundane atmosphere.
X's lessons made me feel like a student in a Central American country-a feeling antithetical from that of previous years. Counting syllables became a fragment of the past, swapped with her many compelling stories of life in Argentina, Cuban movies that evoked every emotion, and lively music lessons. One week, she taught the history of the Flamenco then performed it while wearing a polka-dot skirt-a week later, I showed off the fabulous footwork I learned to the class for my project. It felt good to experience something different.
The cultural expedition Seńora X guided me through sparked excitement within my world-explorer soul. I was the tourist: infatuated with every savory empanada I sampled, obsessed over the sultry voice of Enrique Iglesias, and admired the ornate gothic church architecture. Through this immersion, I perceived the language of Romance through a different lens, one that was unclouded by monotonous grammar. My teacher ultimately instilled within me a newfound sense of enthusiasm of learning foreign tongues by experiencing rich cultures behind them all. Whether it be Spanish, Mandarin or French, my love for this endeavor is unwavering.I really like this essay, especially the tourist metaphor you bring in. If you could somehow bring that in earlier instead of the last paragraph, i think it would be better. Especially in the first paragraph so you can contrast that with your new experience. You could also change, "It felt good to experience something different" into something about an adventure so it leads into the next paragraph.
I was thinking somewhere after the 2nd sentence in the first paragraph. Maybe say something about how you were unable to immerse yourself in the culture, or how you weren't able to explore the culture behind the conjugations. Maybe you could also say you were a tourist without a guide, or a tourist in all the wrong places.
If you have time, could you also look at mine? Thanks!
