"The Passion Project" spoke to
me by making me want to sure of my passion. As the opening words of the movie
declare, “passion is a desire to do, to accomplish, or to feel without any barriers.”
As an eighteen year old, I have fears that I'll wake up ten years from now and
hate what I'm doing. Until recently, I had always gotten good grades but had
never felt an overwhelming passion for one single subject. For the moment, my
plan is to go to law school and work at an organization that prosecutes human
traffickers – I think this is my passion. Ultimately, I really identify with
the movie’s quotation “the best advice I felt like I could have been given was
to know that my mind is undecided.” I want to know “what truly makes me happy”.
Another way the “The Passion Project” made an impact
on me was by provoking me to think about how education has become so formulized
and why this is detrimental to society. Just
as one of the students from the movie remarked, “When people ask me ‘why didn’t
you take up singing’ or ‘why didn’t you take up theater arts’, I’m like ‘because
you’re not supposed to do that’”. Our world is made up of different colors,
different people with different background and aspirations; the fact that we
are all different is what keeps society from falling apart. As Ms. Ontiveros
remarks, “How gladly we succumb to the hatchet of conformity, splitting passion
from heart.” I hope that, one day soon, more people will feel comfortable
shrugging off the shackles of conformity and acting on their passions.
Finally, “The Passion Project” moves me to action. It
is an interesting idea that students’ academic successes are generally based in
passion. Although teachers should bring passion to their areas of expertise, it
is also the job of the student to be a willing and eager participant and to try
new and difficult things. After all, how should we know what to do with our
lives if we haven’t explored all the options? Ultimately, this movie is
affective because it speaks students’ languages; it addresses their
insecurities over not following their society and/or family’s example and
choosing instead to carve out a different path. After watching this movie, I
want to find out what excites me so that I can make it a central focus in my
education, and in the long run, my future.
Teaches should have a passion for what they teach. Just
as one woman in the movie aptly stated, “Do I think a teacher should start
going into a classroom with the vocabulary of passion, absolutely yes.”
Passionate teachers can definitely be instrumental in students’ successes. When
teachers bring excitement and life into their classrooms, this attitude infects
the student. This happened to me when I was taking an astronomy class at
Chabot. I was never all that interested in science but my teacher, Professor
Hildreth, made it quite fascinating. From the very moment I saw him, it was
obvious how much he loved his field. In addition to all the actual science, he
always made sure to tie his lectures back to astronomy’s relevance in today’s
world. This made me want to do well in his class.
Classes shouldn’t just be about dry, uninteresting
facts; they should have relevance and be exciting. This is the role of passion
in the classroom. As another interviewee remarked, “I’ve been in many
classrooms where the teachers just teach and don’t interact with the students
much.” A history class I’ve been taking this semester exemplifies the opposite
quality, where the teacher has instead been making his history class come
alive. Although history can often be seemingly inconsequential, the reality, as
Mr. Stephens explains it, goes far deeper than our perceptions. When I’m in his
class, I actually want to know about ancient Greek philosophers and about what
factors caused the fall of the Roman Empire.
Unfortunately, classrooms today seem to be more about formula and fact memorization
rather than inclusive learning. This is something that must change.
The central focus
of education should be passion. As one interviewee explains, “We have to feel
like the teacher really wants to help us.” Taken a step further, the entire
atmosphere of “the school experience” should be about passion. Sure, we’ll have
to learn about things that might seem tedious – and we might grumble about
having to write papers into the early hours of the morning – but we’ll do it if
we know why we should do it and/or for what reason it will benefit us. When I
come to school, I want to feel excited. I want to walk into my classrooms with
clarity of purpose and with an eagerness to tackle difficult projects. When
this happens, it is the synthesis of passion and motivation – of being excited
about education and being willing to work through various academic hurdles.
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