Is there any one class you had in high school or elementary school that had a big effect on your life?

asp3

asp3

Senior Member
Location
Silicon Valley, CA
If so what class was it and what effect did it have?

I definitely had such a class. It was my social psychology class in high school. Although it was titled social psychology I think it had more to do about how to be inclusively social at least in that class. We did a bunch of exercises in the class to get to know each other. We had to sit in a different seat every day so we were never surrounded by the same people. We also had to learn a little bit about each other and the final exam for the class was filling out a form with the name of everyone in class, where they were born and something else about them.

At another point in class after we'd had a chance to get to know each other a little bit we had to fill out a sheet with everyone's name on it and write something positive about that person. The sheets were cut up and the things that were written about you by other people were given to you.

This class really helped me get out of my shell and overcome some of my shyness. It also showed me that people I didn't know that well all had some nice positive things to say about me. I definitely left the class with a more positive attitude about myself, the world and other people than I had before taking the class. I took it in my final semester of my senior year and wish that I had taken it in my first semester of my freshman year.
 

asp3 said:
If so what class was it and what effect did it have?

I definitely had such a class. It was my social psychology class in high school. Although it was titled social psychology I think it had more to do about how to be inclusively social at least in that class. We did a bunch of exercises in the class to get to know each other. We had to sit in a different seat every day so we were never surrounded by the same people. We also had to learn a little bit about each other and the final exam for the class was filling out a form with the name of everyone in class, where they were born and something else about them.

At another point in class after we'd had a chance to get to know each other a little bit we had to fill out a sheet with everyone's name on it and write something positive about that person. The sheets were cut up and the things that were written about you by other people were given to you.

This class really helped me get out of my shell and overcome some of my shyness. It also showed me that people I didn't know that well all had some nice positive things to say about me. I definitely left the class with a more positive attitude about myself, the world and other people than I had before taking the class. I took it in my final semester of my senior year and wish that I had taken it in my first semester of my freshman year.
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Sounds like you went to a remarkable high school How wonderful! :love:
 

Speech class in my Senior year of HS. It forced me out of my shell and served me very well during my career.

All my math and science courses were central to my career, but that speech class was key to an engineer tasked with explaining things to non-technical personnel. I have had to make a numerous speeches and presentations. Some of the more important included a briefing to the Presidential Science Board and on another completely different subject I briefed the Chief Justice of The Court of Military Appeals in Washington on non-judicial justice.

Not everyone always wanted to hear what I had to say, and I have had some very pissed off Admirals (two stars) when I had to tell them what was going to happen and why. (Change is very difficult for some, but I had the facts.)

…. but that speech class was a lot of fun after I got into the swing of things.
 
We had one great teacher. He was as mad as a hatter, but he was a great teacher. He taught chemistry in his own inimitable style.
For example, he would have us standing on top of our desks and singing the periodic table! He would devise little "Shakespeare plays" to illustrate chemical reactions. He would sometimes set up a really "Heath Robinson" array of apparatus that he used to make tea! A wonderful teacher. He interrupted his university education when the war started, but was accidentally poisoned while doing research. This left him with health problems and he retired early.
 
I had several teachers who inspired me to view the world in different ways. It's impossible for me to pick one, over the others. Most of the teachers and profs who effected me and my outlook on life, were in the sciences. I got my undergrad degree in Biology, and then went on to take graduate classes. I'm truly thankful for my adventures in academia.
 
Senior year in high school a new program I signed up for named DE for Distributive Education. The concept was classes in the morning a job leading to a saleable skill in the afternoon. My job began as a stock clerk but soon changed to apprentice in the meat department. Nice to earn enough to buy my 1st. car a 54 Ford Crown Victoria convertible. Upon graduating high school I could have worked for Kroger Food chain as a retail butcher but chose the Navy. That 1st. job and being successful put me on the path to always looking for achieving more.

Had a series of jobs over the years, all contributing to building a skill base that led to me being able to retire fully funded at age 54, not needing Soc. Sec. I think the Navy helped me get away from the idea that growing up, living in the same town, working where I could get a job doing just enough to live at poverty level or just above was OK.
 
i think there were 2 classes that had a big effect on my life. the biggest was music class because i love to sing. have my whole life. the second was a drama class we had in high school. those two classes helped me immensely in becoming more self confident in life.
 
Pecos said:
Speech class in my Senior year of HS. It forced me out of my shell and served me very well during my career.

All my math and science courses were central to my career, but that speech class was key to an engineer tasked with explaining things to non-technical personnel. I have had to make a numerous speeches and presentations. Some of the more important included a briefing to the Presidential Science Board and on another completely different subject I briefed the Chief Justice of The Court of Military Appeals in Washington on non-judicial justice.

Not everyone always wanted to hear what I had to say, and I have had some very pissed off Admirals (two stars) when I had to tell them what was going to happen and why. (Change is very difficult for some, but I had the facts.)

…. but that speech class was a lot of fun after I got into the swing of things.
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I can see how a speech class would be valuable here.

You have such an interesting life, I'm impressed!
 
Capt Lightning said:
We had one great teacher. He was as mad as a hatter, but he was a great teacher. He taught chemistry in his own inimitable style.
For example, he would have us standing on top of our desks and singing the periodic table! He would devise little "Shakespeare plays" to illustrate chemical reactions. He would sometimes set up a really "Heath Robinson" array of apparatus that he used to make tea! A wonderful teacher. He interrupted his university education when the war started, but was accidentally poisoned while doing research. This left him with health problems and he retired early.
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He sounds amazing. I would have loved a teacher like that!
 
asp3 said:
If so what class was it and what effect did it have?

I definitely had such a class. It was my social psychology class in high school. Although it was titled social psychology I think it had more to do about how to be inclusively social at least in that class. We did a bunch of exercises in the class to get to know each other. We had to sit in a different seat every day so we were never surrounded by the same people. We also had to learn a little bit about each other and the final exam for the class was filling out a form with the name of everyone in class, where they were born and something else about them.

At another point in class after we'd had a chance to get to know each other a little bit we had to fill out a sheet with everyone's name on it and write something positive about that person. The sheets were cut up and the things that were written about you by other people were given to you.

This class really helped me get out of my shell and overcome some of my shyness. It also showed me that people I didn't know that well all had some nice positive things to say about me. I definitely left the class with a more positive attitude about myself, the world and other people than I had before taking the class. I took it in my final semester of my senior year and wish that I had taken it in my first semester of my freshman year.
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It so important for a lot of school kids to have courses like this. It shows how it made your life easier it seems, in the relaxed manner in which you post.
 
As for me, I got little out of school. I was a "problem". I ignored the boring (which they all were) and only paid attention to the few who displayed a sense of humor sometimes; some "oomph".

I read text books in my own way, by whatever struck me as interesting. If I did any homework at all it was abysmal.

With the exception of math, I'm self taught and still learning about things that interest me. I did graduate.

I am sorry only for the loss of math which I have blocked.
 
jujube said:
It wasn't so much the class as it was the teacher. Thank you Mrs. Stauffer and Miss Pritchard from the bottom of my heart for believing in me. They both told me I was funny and could write. I never made a career of either being funny or writing, but it enriched my life.
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I knew that about you Jujube, right off the bat!
 
I had an English teacher who encouraged my creative writing submissions. She believed I had a future in that discipline. I did apply to, and was accepted at college with the intent of majoring in journalism. I did all this without consulting my parents. Well, my father hit the ceiling. He was an attorney and had no use for journalists whatsoever, and he flatly refused my wishes saying he's not pay my tuition nor support me. I was deflated. He wanted me to study pre med with the thought I'd become a doctor. I thought he was nuts. Or, he offered me also the choice of obtaining a pharmacy degree. That turned me off completely. I was excellent in chemistry, but all I could think of was I am not standing around counting pills all day long. After a long family meeting I offered to go to Nursing School and we'd take it from there. Well, little did I know, I'd found my true calling. I love every minute of it and the rest is history.
 
I loved biology in high school, and pursued it into college. But math is the queen of the sciences, and I couldn’t hack the heavy math requirements in college biology courses which were packed with ultra-competitive pre-meds, anyways. I returned to English which had always come naturally to me, with several high school English teachers having been inspirational...
 

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