Essay On Mrs. Galligan

Liberal Arts provides its students with the fundamental comprehension of various academic courses (not including professional topics) in a college. Before coming to the liberal arts college, Oxford College, I attended Patchogue Medford High School. At this high school, I was taught AP Chemistry by Mrs. Galligan. My first impressions of her were founded by her previous students who claimed that she was an incredibly difficult teacher, but later I found out that she was extremely passionate about chemistry and wanted us to appreciate it as well. Thus, Mrs. Galligan was my most effective high school teacher in preparing me to study at a liberal arts college because with her passion of chemistry, she incorporated other subjects to give her students …show more content…
Galligan was my most effective teacher because, although my first impression of her was unfavorable, I soon found out that she was the most passionate teacher I have every had. Her passion was driven my her dedication, devotion, and love of chemistry. This passion was seen through her teaching when she would reference how her research at Brookhaven National Laboratory included certain principles that we were being taught. Similarly, Mrs. Galligan would incorporate other subjects for us to understand the unit of Chemistry better. For instance, she would tell us the history behind certain experiments, and the roles chemistry plays with physics and biology. The passion that Mrs. Galligan conveyed in her classroom was infectious, and gave me a newfound appreciate for chemistry.  Even though some people may believe that passion isn’t the most significant quality for an effective high school teacher, I believe that without passion, students would just merely learn the subject and not be exposed to all the connections the subject has with the world. Considering liberal arts is taught at colleges with the objective of giving its student’s knowledge of various subjects, an effective high school teacher’s passion would help their students succeed in this type of college. For example, Mrs. Galligan’s passion for chemistry gave me a deeper appreciation for not only chemistry, but the other sciences too. When she would lecture about a certain topic, she would try to incorporate other ideas from other subjects to give everyone in the class a greater understanding. Therefore, passion is an important quality because without it, the student can’t form a greater appreciation for the