Curiosity Leads to Questions

Throughout my years of education I have always been the child to ask the teacher a million questions in class. Yes it was definitely the un-cool thing to do but I was always curious about everything under the sun. I was told “There is no such thing as a dumb question” and used that to my full advantage. Some teachers encouraged this while others scolded my curiosity as it was unacceptable.

When I was in 3^rd grade my favorite thing to do every night was to let my imagination run wild and write stories of adventure and curiosity. Many of the stories I wrote raised questions in my mind that lead to asking myself “why?” In the morning I would attack my parents with these questions that popped into my head each night. They may not have had an answer for all of them but they always encouraged me to continue asking questions.

My third grade teacher was a completely different story. She always stuck straight to the lesson plan and did not allow any creativity in our work. When I asked questions in class of why something was or how it works, I was thought to be interrupting. I would come home every day very upset and in time became scared to be curious and ask questions. I convinced myself I needed to accept things for what she said and that is the final answer.

This lead to the time in my life where I stopped writing. I began to hate it actually. I suppressed my curiosity and kept my mouth shut for years.

It is extremely important for teachers to allow their students to be curious and ask why. This is how children’s minds grow and they learn the ability to think logically. Whether it is as simple as solving a puzzle or doing months of research to form a well supported thesis.

To this day I wish I never stopped writing and being curious. Some of the greatest inventions and theories have been created from curiosity to not accept everything for what it appears to be but wonder how and why.

Be curious. Ask lots of questions. This is the key to utilizing your whole mind and drawing conclusions some may never have thought possible.