One of the most hated things in all of school is the speech. Students hate talking by themselves in front of a room full of peers. This usually has something to do with students not wanting to look ridiculous in front of their peers. Personally, I never had too much of a problem with presenting in front of a bunch of others, but I wasn’t necessarily a natural either. My strategy consisted of trying to memorize my presentation as much as possible, but at the same time, I never fully had my presentation down. Therefore, I’d be walking a thin tightrope to not trip up on my presentation while still trying to sound natural.

The answer: you probably don’t.

Because I am a tutor for secondary students, most people assume that I know everything that needs to be known about those classes. However, that could not be further from the truth. In fact, I frequently encounter problems that the students I help have that I cannot answer. It’s not even that I don’t know the answer. Sometimes, it’s just so far back in my mind that I don’t remember what the exact steps are.

I find it a bit of a mild tragedy that we as students don’t get to feel the joy of discovery while learning new scientific concepts. Classrooms talk about DNA, magnetism, electricity, gravitation, chemistry, and evolution as if they are mundane things. Ideas are introduced, but rarely is there any sort of “discovery” by the students. Instead, the information is clearly meted out in logical sections with almost no flair.