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Contacting people who've had an influence on your life is the very thing of living! Here's something I did last year, which I'll be doing again in a few weeks.

Contacting people who've had an influence on your life is the very thing of living! Here's something I did last year, which I'll be doing again in a few weeks. Back in high school, I had a really great math teacher. He really created excitement about the subject, and he always had extra time to teach extra stuff to us. Just a really cool guy who'd show us Monty Python videos sketches and then some interesting math problems. It was really night and day when compared to for instance what came later at university. I found myself practicing a lot of extra math for no reason. Plus of course it made actual math class a breeze. Three of us went to do a math contest each year, and in the final year - he was retiring, we were graduating - we won the contest. So I've arranged for the other two to fly over to me and we're going on a road trip to see him. If you're wondering whether he's bothered by it, I think he'd say that was the whole purpose of teaching, to show young people some interesting stuff and motivate them. The guy even sees his old "kids" who are now in their early 60s. He's mid 80s.

SeekingMeaning 7y ago
That last sentence... As a college student, I’ve never thought about that. It’s crazy to think that the percent difference in age gets smaller over time.
- organsnyder 7y ago
  I moved in a couple doors down from an old high school teacher. His kids are only a decade or so older than mine. Makes me realize how young he was (relative to my current perspective) when I was in his class.
sinjid 7y ago
I kind of emphatized with your story. My highschool math teacher was and is one of the most amazing people that I have ever met. He had a way of imposing respect without forcing it. He had a way of making you see mathematics in every day life. For example, when we begin studying logarithms, he told us that some of the shapes drawn on the curtains can be generated with composed logarithmic functions and he challenged us to come up with functions that have cool shapes :)) after that, he taught us about fractals, even if it wasn't actually in the curriculum. He was also a good friend. I recall I could only talk with him when I had my first crush. He was always there with a mature and educated opinion. Without doubt, he is one of my role models. Now, when I have the time, I sometimes go back to highschool and talk to him. He would let me join 12th grade class sometimes. :) One of those times, something got into me and from nowhere, I asked him whether I could address to the class. And so, I have told the students about how my ex-teacher's maths instilled a sense of rigorousness in my reasoning and how mathematics can improve your overall practical problem solving skills, which made me a better engineer today. I could tell after that he was touched by my gesture. I guess that what I'm trying to say is we don't arrive anywhere just with our strengths only. And we have to aknowledge that, not forget the help and pay it forward. Be human and say thank you!

SeekingMeaning 7y ago

That last sentence... As a college student, I’ve never thought about that. It’s crazy to think that the percent difference in age gets smaller over time.

organsnyder 7y ago
I moved in a couple doors down from an old high school teacher. His kids are only a decade or so older than mine. Makes me realize how young he was (relative to my current perspective) when I was in his class.

sinjid 7y ago

I kind of emphatized with your story. My highschool math teacher was and is one of the most amazing people that I have ever met. He had a way of imposing respect without forcing it. He had a way of making you see mathematics in every day life. For example, when we begin studying logarithms, he told us that some of the shapes drawn on the curtains can be generated with composed logarithmic functions and he challenged us to come up with functions that have cool shapes :)) after that, he taught us about fractals, even if it wasn't actually in the curriculum. He was also a good friend. I recall I could only talk with him when I had my first crush. He was always there with a mature and educated opinion. Without doubt, he is one of my role models. Now, when I have the time, I sometimes go back to highschool and talk to him. He would let me join 12th grade class sometimes. :) One of those times, something got into me and from nowhere, I asked him whether I could address to the class. And so, I have told the students about how my ex-teacher's maths instilled a sense of rigorousness in my reasoning and how mathematics can improve your overall practical problem solving skills, which made me a better engineer today. I could tell after that he was touched by my gesture. I guess that what I'm trying to say is we don't arrive anywhere just with our strengths only. And we have to aknowledge that, not forget the help and pay it forward. Be human and say thank you!