What Inspires Me: The Proof That Great Teachers, Like Parents, Can Change a Life

Ten or so years ago, I was on a plane to the west coast from Boston, sitting in one of the back rows so I could see the entire length of the plane. There were suits and dress shirts all the way up the aisle -- it was all guys in the plane that day it seemed. The mid-flight movie was "October Sky" with Jake Gyllenhaal, way before his superstar actor days.

It tells the classic story of a father-son relationship where the book-smart son (played by Gyllenhaal) is never given the full respect of his coal-miner father (played by Chris Cooper). Various physical tragedies are overcome, and in the culminating scene the son's project is being regaled by the public. But the father is nowhere to be seen to bestow his blessing. Jake's character looks down to the ground in quiet acceptance. And then, there is dad ... straight from the mine, walking towards the son carrying his coal mining helmet. Proud, finally. As tears began to well up in my eyes, I noticed all the men shrugging uncomfortably all the way up the plane -- subtly wiping away their tears. The universal nature of the story was on full display up and down the aisle. I've spent a great deal of my blogging thinking about the impact my father has had on my life and could speak to how he's been the central inspiration to my life. The story, perhaps, isn't much different from other sons out there.

Yet another lasting inspiration I’ve experienced was from two of my high-school teachers. As president of an art school, I now spend my days championing the value of art and design to the innovation economy – or adding Art to turn STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) to STEAM. But I come to this argument as a product of STEM education, after many years at MIT. And I would never have gotten to MIT if it wasn't for my math teacher, Mr. John Moyer, and my chemistry teacher, Mr. Tom Wakefield. Mr. Moyer and Mr. Wakefield both taught at Franklin High School in Seattle in the 1980s, and were two reasons that a kid like me, who grew up working in his family’s tofu store, began to dream with direction. STEM subjects are often put down as dry and lacking creativity, but we all know that when you have a great teacher who can inspire you to be curious, science and math can be interesting. And when they can convince you (and your teenage ego) that you are wrong, sometimes, that can be the best lesson of all.

I fancied myself a great computer coder in high school. I was self-taught, and with no Internet to learn from, my knowledge was quite primitive. Mr. Moyer had long suggested that I should take his computer programming class, but I seemed to think I knew better than he. It was during the first week of his class that I realized I had missed a key concept in how programs are built -- and when it became clear to him that I had long carried this ridiculously silly programming method, he treated me with kindness and said, "Hey. Let me show you a few more things you might not know. And maybe you can teach me a thing or two." In the end, I found that there was little I could teach him, and one of the most important things he taught me was how to treat others who might not know ... yet.

And then there are teachers who change your entire life with their simple, profound faith in your abilities. That was my chemistry teacher, Mr. Wakefield. He came to our tofu store to strongly suggest to my parents, neither of whom had gone to college, that they let me take summer classes in biochemistry at the nearby university. The idea was a bit unheard of to my parents -- as we were kept busy all summer long at the tofu store, which was our core base of survival -- but I eventually got their permission and support. Because of Mr. Wakefield, I found myself in a university lab learning all kinds of things I could never imagine.

I got a nice message from Mr. Moyer, who I contacted after the inspiration of writing this short piece on inspiration. His colleague, Mr. Wakefield, passed away in 2009, and I now regret that I never got the chance to thank him properly. Having been a professor at MIT for 12 years, I know what Mr. Moyer means when he says:

"I am pleased and moved to hear that you have good memories of your time in my classroom. There is no greater reward for a teacher than to learn that he has had a positive effect on one of his students. It is hard for me to think of myself as inspirational in any way, but it is exciting to know that my class was a step on your path to the status you have attained as an educator, artist, and scientist."

Thank you Mr. Moyer and Mr. Wakefield! And thank you to all the teachers out there who inspire us in so many meaningful ways! If you can take a few minutes today, please visit this great site started by TBD to thank teachers.

Photo: Hal Bergman Photography via Getty Image