Meet Casey, all she ever wanted to become is a writer. In high school her work got low grades and teachers commented by saying it’s not her strong suit. As college approached, her parents were advised that she will never be a writer and a career involving creative expression is absolutely the wrong direction for her.
Thankfully, her mom, being a therapist, understood the importance of allowing her daughter to follow her passion and supported Casey’s decision not give up and to keep developing her skills.
Fast forwarding four years, Casey is now a senior in college, majoring in creative writing and doing extremely well. Her professors often comment on her work as being very imaginative, sincere and original.
How is it possible that in high-school she was thought of as a no-talent and in college she is a prodigy? Who is right and who is wrong? And yes, this is a true story and only G_d knows how many more of them are out there.
My finger is pointing forwards the high school teacher who is obviously at fault. It’s fine to critique the work yet as an educator he had to know how important it is for his student to keep improving, and instead of discouraging, he had to encourage and offer her a strategy on how to get better.
I do have utmost respect for educators yet would like to remind them what should be their number one goal. It’s to allow kids to express themselves, be passionate and enthusiastic, be willing to work hard and follow their intuition. If it wasn’t for this young woman having a strong parent, she would have thrown her passion off to the side and picked a “practical” career, which could have either been outdated in a few years, or something she ended up not enjoying at all. A teacher’s ego and empty statements such as: you will never be such or such, always should be checked at the school’s door.
Best wishes, and if you have any comments or questions, please let me know, Elie
