Being a senior, I’m not what you’d call ‘inspired’ or ‘enthusiastic’ by or about many things. Unless a favorite band of mine is coming out with a new CD or I find out they’re re-releasing my favorite movie in 3D, I don’t get too terribly excited for much of anything. This unsurprisingly carried over to school this year. The mundanity of the same stale topics being taught and retaught was getting to me. I had stage four senioritis. At least until I got into this teacher’s class.

He’s one of those people who has a near-thankless job yet loves it regardless. You can tell molding young minds and exposing them to things they otherwise would never know is his passion. His calling, if you will. He takes a topic that’s especially foreign to a lot of people and he makes it tangible and interesting and relevant, which is all anyone can ask for when it comes to education. I can honestly say I look forward to going to his class every day.

I find it particularly easy and rewarding to learn from someone who is not only passionate about teaching itself but also the subject they’re teaching. When he’s teaching, you can tell he finds it really captivating, and being able to use your own excitement about a subject to get your students to be just as excited is the true mark of a great teacher.

So thank you, Mr. Becker, for curing my senioritis for at least one hour out of the day.