What is the Power of Teachers as Influencers in Students' Lifes
Teachers are the strongest influencers, they can either build or ruin communities. A person’s character is formed over his early years, however most of those years are spent at school; which means they watch and learn at school more than they ever experience at home, hence the role of all the teachers over the years is the most essential. The greatest example of returning the favor, is a selfless good deed, and as we’re all in this world to pay it forward, we can find the selfless good deed in the tiniest ways possible. Explaining the concept of giving and waiting for nothing in return is the hardest thing you can ever deliver.
“Pay It Forward” is about helping others and waiting for nothing in return, along with all the life struggles that people face on their daily life. The movie showed how different characters struggled and fought their own battles, however each and every one of them knew how to pay it forward. The ending of the movie was extremely dramatic, which I didn’t like; why show a tragedy ending for such a life changing gesture. The interesting part of the movie was how the characters started to move forward, change their lives, even by a little, and pay it forward as well. The main character of the story is Trevor, who strongly played the part of the main core in the movie, showing us that the strength and courage to do new things, and make a positive change in the world, but the most inspiring part is how he got to start all this, it’s hitting the rock bottom. Once he felt completely defeated by the world, and he didn’t want his life to stay that way he decided to make a change. Mr. Simonet is Trevor's Social Studies teacher who gives his class an assignment at their first class, which was to think of an idea to change the world and put it into action. Simonet wants his students to think of making a difference in society. Trevor had an idea. He decided to make a selfless good deed to three people, and instead of being paid back with gratitude, he will ask each of them to pay it forward to three more people. Simonet shows a different example, of how you can blind yourself and hide behind your past, in a daily routine; to avoid being hurt again. He was overwhelmed by how people might judge him, because of his scars, and in this point scars are emotionally and figuratively. Although he was the teacher, but Trever was the one to show him a different meaning of life. There is another movie that is truly moving, “Freedom Writers”, which portrays a different side of a teacher’s life, and how his – her students’ background can easily affect the teacher.
Erin Gruwell is the main character, a teacher who fights her own battles. She does not have enough finances. People around her don’t believe that this is the right job for her. There were times when her husband did not understand the effort she does to help her students, also the staff members were not helpful, and the worst one was that no one gave hope that her students could pass high school, or even participate in her class.
Passion can drive instinct and lead to extraordinary results. Erin Gruwell believed she could do something, despite all the negative vibes that surrounded her. She started learning about their needs and backgrounds, and she remembered that all humans need love. Erin encouraged her students to start writing journals, and surprisingly at the end had given the students a new direction in their life and supported them with hope. In the end, their journal entries from that entire year were compiled together in a book called the Freedom Writers.
Teachers can do the impossible, they can push a human to greatness, but it’s not always easy; you only have to believe, and methods will find you. It’s enough to change one life.
