Not just on the blackboard

Do you remember when you had to know by heart everything that your Geography teacher was saying, like all those ocean names, lakes, and weather thing? So, I used to have a bunch of friends who hated Geography because all that stuff we had to know by heart. I, on the other hand, always loved Geography, especially when I got in the High School, where I found a teacher who was totally crazy, but who had the ability to use this craziness to make the students understand all those things and not just to know them by heart.

Yeah, teacher Marcello, I have to say that your teaching style did work! I still remember all those drawings and those silly explanations! But better than remembering those, it is the opportunity that I have of seeing them in person and not just on the blackboard! I mean, your drawings were pretty good! I still have them in my mind (and in my notebook – oh, yeah! Believe me, I still have my High school notebooks.) But to see it in person it is something priceless! And the best part is that they are not just another place that I visit, they are something that I’ve learned about, and something that I really know about. And why? It is because of my teacher’s crazy teaching style!

For example, last month I went to Duluth, MN, where I saw the Lake Superior, the largest of the five Great Lakes of North America. It is also the largest freshwater lake in the world by surface area, and is the world's third-largest freshwater lake by volume. I couldn’t stop thinking about my teacher and everything that he taught me, and I couldn’t believe that I was really seeing that! The sensation was just amazing.

But, as amazing as the sensation that I had when I saw the Lake Superior, it was the one that I had when I went to NASA and Galveston Island, in Texas. First, I have never imagined myself being at NASA! Never! For me, NASA was something that reminds me the Woody woodpecker’s cartoon. I’m kidding! Hehehe But I really looked for him over there! LOL! Oh yeah!! Well, it was just incredible to see all those rocket ships right in front of me! Second, I couldn’t believe when I put my feet in the water of Gulf of Mexico! Oh yeaah, baby! I was there! I was in the water of the ninth largest body of water in the world!


I know, you may be thinking, “why are those experiences relevant?” Why? Well they are relevant to me because I like to see everything that I’ve learned, and when I see all of these in person, they remind me the amazing time that I had learning them.