The Porch Postulate

I can say that my life wasn't impacted by too many teachers, not in a positive way anyway. I guess most people can pick out a handful of teachers that impacted their life in a positive way and tell you why, as can I.

The first real positive teacher impact I had was Mrs. Kytorek (spelling obviously not right). For all practical purposes, she taught me to read. Hardwired me to read is a better term. I was so hardwired to read the way that she taught me that I could not progress in my reading skills until I was in my 20's. But still, I could read, and I attribute that to her and our 2 hour a day sessions.

Secondly, my next good experience was with Mrs. Stopinski. Her only real attribute that gave her a positive impact was kindness. I had had a really bad experience with the teacher I had for the first half of fourth grade, and a new school and a new teacher was a breath of fresh air. Mrs. Stopinski knew just how to handle the situation, and I felt right at home and comfortable.

The next great influence I had was Mrs. Muse, my eight grade science teacher. She saw the talent and would not accept anything but the best. In fact, after pushing me all year, she convinced me to take a school wide science aptitude test. Imagine my pride when I, the smart-ass nobody, had their name called to accept the 4th place award. The three people above me were top 10 in our high school graduating class. So, she gave me confidence, in my intelligence anyway.

Finally, and mostly, I think Lynn Porch, my sophomore geometry teacher had the most profound impact. She didn't really reach out to me or offer anything special to me that she did not offer to everyone else. I just happened to be paying attention one day, which I surprisingly did in geometry because I liked it, and she impatred a pearl of wisdom that changed me forever.

As geometry goes, their are postulates, or rules, that you must learn. On this particular day she gave the one that has stuck with me even 14 years later.

The Porch Postulate: "Never forget anything you have learned".

Seems simple enough. I though about it for a while, at this point ignoring the postulates that actually had something to do with the subject matter and gave it a good think. It was life changing, I think.

I decided that if it was worth the effort to learn in the first place, then it was worth remembering. Granted, I had to make the effort to discover the information to begin with, but if I could just remembered it, I would not have to duplicate the effort (which was kind of her point). Thus, the beginning of my effort to build my memory.

I further determined, though not then but recently, that intelligence is simply the effective application of knowledge. And to have knowledge you must have memory, so a good memory is the basic building block of intelligence. Another affirmation that Mrs. Porch's postulate was right.

I am not claiming to be the smartest person on the block, or even in my own family for that matter. Sometimes I am humbled by the cleverness of my kids, even the littlest one... especially the littlest one. I also find that my parents, sister, and wife have an intellect that is uniquely their own and still superior to my own, that makes me envious. But what I can say that I do have is the ability to learn, the ability to pick parcels of useful knowledge from those around me, and the ability to look at something and figure it out. And that, my friends, is the key to whatever success I have had.

So next time your in class and the teacher throws out a pearl, give it some thought.