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Sometimes, some things that seem normal and simple to us might be intriguing and profound to other people. There are some reasons to explain this. For example, people have different backgrounds and come from different families. In short, everyone is an individual. Sometimes a person might not be mature enough to understand or appreciate what someone else is saying. For example, last week I got a great surprise in my physics class from my cram school teacher. The topic of the class was about Kinematics. The physics teacher taught the lesson clearly and explained the theorem carefully. In fact, I already knew much of the lesson he taught and even felt bored, especially when it came to prove the formula “Xi=Xo+vt+1/2 at*t.” Students should have learnt them during high school! Although I still transcribed the proof lines into my notebook, I almost fell asleep. However, things became interesting when the teacher started to share his own experience about how he felt when he first learned the formula when he was in 8th grade,and this is his story: He came from an underprivileged family. He had had bad grades all the way from 1st grade to 7th grade. And even worse: the results of the two IQ tests he took in 2nd and 5th grade were 70 and 78 respectively. We all know that a normal person’s IQ falls between 90 and 110. Therefore, he was classified as “slightly retarded.” For some years, he felt like he was good for nothing. Teachers neglected him, and his parents were too busy working. However, later in 8th grade, his physics teacher totally changed his life; he described the moment as his life’s turning point. His teacher explained the formula to the students in a thought-provoking way. In physics, the Xi stands for the final position of an object, and the Xo stands for the original position. And then “v” is speed, “a” is acceleration, and “t” is the time that the object has moved. So an object’s final position depends on its moving speed, acceleration, and the time the object has moved. What’s more, we can easily observe the formula since the speed only mutiplies the time, but the acceleration mutiplies the SQUARE of time; therefore the acceleration affects the final outcome far more than speed does. But still, the original position is a factor that affects the end result. His teacher described the original position as a person’s background where he comes from, what jobs his parents do, etc. He also described the speed as a person’s IQ. Finally he described acceleration as the efforts a person puts in. He was deeply touched by his teacher and broke down in tears. He knew he was unlike his classmates; he was not so clever and came from an underprivileged family, but the thing he could do was be diligent and hard-working. He later entered Jian Kuo High School, which is one of the best schools in Taiwan and the absolute hardest to test in to. He eventually studied physics at National Taiwan University, the most prestigous school in Taiwan. Hearing his story, I knew that to be hard-working is the most significant element of success. Just think of it: this fellow was from a poor family and was labeled as retarded, but he ended up studying physics, one of the top departments at Taiwan University. I felt incredibly encouraged hearing this example. I have a great cram school teacher! –Bob
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