Intellectual creative thought, that's what keeps us humans truly alive. Mentors that posses this desire for free thinking, out of the norm responses, and true colorful expression are extremely valuable in today's world. These people guide young minds to their own conclusions, for them to decide what is right and wrong in their own eyes, and to experience the world as such. My teacher Mr. Davis and Mr. Keating are both made up of imagination, creativity, and unabashed enthusiasm making them unmatched mentors.
Imagination, the key source of ideas, land of marveled fantasy, childlike, and fervent unadulterated goals. Teachers that wish to be good teachers need imagination. To open their own minds to a world of possibilities that are impossible, so that their students may follow and open their minds as well. Mr. Keating is a bustling economy of words. He will even improv a poetic remark on the spot to clarify his point, “"But only in their dreams can men be truly free, twas always thus and always thus will be” he said to a fellow teacher that didn’t approve of Keating teaching his boys to think for themselves and have dreams. My teacher Mr. Davis, too, is like a two year old with an endless disposal of crayons and paper. When he talks, he comes up with a scenario that puts you right in the moment, completely unwinding you from linear thinking, to the made up story he unfolds for himself, much less others. The end of his stories are faded, blurred, and sneaky. They creep upon you when you least expect it. He creates unease, suspense, and inspiration that all tie together in the end which I have benefited from when I sit down to write a paper.
The mark of a creative mind is one who can think abstractly and intellectually, but deliberately tie all loose ends together creating one whole story, with a deep winding inside, and a neat outline from the outside. Mr. Keating sees the potential futures of the boys he instructs, and encourages them on paths that they have not yet seen. “But poetry, beauty, romance, love, these are what we stay alive for... That the powerful play *goes on* and you may contribute a verse. What will your verse be?” Mr. Keating asked his class. He finds a time and place to explain his approach, a different approach to poetry and language, that it might be a heavily passionate endeavour that all humans could relate to. He creatively weaves together a description, persuasive real world application, and then turns and asks the boys how they are doing in the pursuit. My teacher Mr. Davis also constructs a way to get answers out of his students that even they wouldn’t expect. He has a few exercises that do just that, such as speed writing, which in reality has no structure whatsoever but is an excellent way of putting down thoughts and leaking abstract details from the subconscious that you wouldn’t normally see in a regular paper setting. Speed writing is done with randomized songs, a pen and paper, and an ear. The goal is to not think, but write. Listen to what is being played, how your emotional reaction is to it, what thoughts are whizzing through your cranium as they buzz, what the person next to you is doing, or colors that flash before your eyes when you tickle your pen across the parchment; nothing is too boring or random to be put down on paper. After a few songs have completed, you are to stop what you’re doing and read what you wrote. After outlining key subjects or descriptions in your paper, you are to write a poem describing everything you put down in a neat way. It’s an incredibly odd but rewarding exercise as I have come up with some totally original stuff that I would never put into words verbally.
The key to a successful story, poem, life, relationship, or anything that involves time, passion, and effort is enthusiasm. To mentor childrens’ minds means you have to be enthusiastic. Mr. Keating loves his boys, and cares about each and every one of them, though he doesn’t shelter them, and wants them to break out and learn for themselves. Like when he asks them why he stands upon his desk and Charlie says ‘to feel taller,’and Mr. Keating replies, “No! Thank you for playing Mr. Dalton. I stand upon my desk to remind myself that we must constantly look at things in a different way.” Mr. Keating is enthusiastic about his students, but also their outlook on life and the world around them. His enthusiasm for his own perspective creates desire in others. Mr. Davis has a similar way of doing the same thing. He talks individually to any of his students if they’re having a hard time coming up with something original, or can’t see something from a different angle. He gives examples, or exercises you can do outside of school to get a grasp at what other people might go through. One of his assignments was to visit a city outside of Poulsbo, go sight-seeing, write down songs you heard playing on the radio at a gas station, the kind of people you saw getting coffee or crossing the street, the kind of signs you saw that were abnormal, local restaurant names and recreational areas, sounds and smells of that region you were in, and write down anything extra that struck you as exciting or new. Some of us couldn’t think of a city to pick, so he would list suggestions (places like Seabeck!) and helped out wherever possible to make this assignment do-able. Everyone that did the worksheet, wrote down places, things, names, and then wrote a poem out of it, came back with a whole new approach to thinking about poetry, places, and people (or at least I did).
Mr. Davis and Mr. Keating are different when it comes to their teaching styles. Where Mr. Keating is teaching in a high esteemed private school, Mr. Davis is teaching in a messy high-school where most kids take Creative Writing for an easy A or a place where it won’t take much brain power (though those kids failed the course). Keating is trying to demonstrate to his kids that it’s okay to let go, and take a chance, “Boys, you must strive to find your own voice. Because the longer you wait to begin, the less likely you are to find it at all. Thoreau said, ‘Most men lead lives of quiet desperation.’ Don't be resigned to that. Break out!” Where Davis brings the crazy public school kids together in one poetic way and looks to squeeze the best out of them for their own benefit. Mr. Keating and Mr. Davis are my most inspirational mentors.
Works Cited:
Dead Poets Society. Dir. Peter Weir. Perf. Robin Williams, Robert Sean Leonard, Ethan Hawke. Touchstone Pictures, 1989. DVD
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