Personal Narrative: The Paradox Of Education

I often felt misunderstood throughout all of elementary school. Bored from the lack of arts and creativity in my school, I was often caught up on my own personal struggles with dyslexia. Mrs. Evans, my third grade teacher, quickly saw qualities in me that I hadn’t discovered or seen before in myself at school. I quickly learned that I was more than my learning disability and I was able to succeed and accomplish any future goals. Mrs. Evans taught me that the journey to success would always be more beneficial than the actual success. This “lesson” or piece of advice is still exhibiting relevancy in my life, 10 years later. My personality, ambition, and personal drive began to develop in third grade. I vividly remember attending class and becoming interested in the things we were learning about. In previous grades I felt the curriculum was dense and I didn’t gather much from the lessons or my teachers. Although third …show more content…
Evans genuinely took time to get to know all of her students and the things that made them passionate. For me, it was all about music, writing, and books. Mrs. Evans introduced me to the soundtrack for The Phantom of Opera and she introduced me to James Baldwin’s historical writings. This discovery of Baldwin led to me finding my favorite quote of all time in a piece called “A Talk to Teachers, “The paradox of education is precisely this- that as one begins to become conscious one begins to examine the society in which he is being educated. This quote by Baldwin is my favorite because it began my journey of self discovery and self identification in the world. It also taught me that education will always be one of the most useful tools in life. The quote inspired me to learn and research as much as I could about the world I was being taught in. It also exemplified how aware children are of their social surroundings and barriers. To say the least, this quote and my 3rd grade teacher began to prepare me for the society I would grow up