I Just Wanna Have Ganas Essay

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I Just Wanna Have Ganas In the film Stand and Deliver, Mr. Escalante was asked what the students in his AP Calculus class need to succeed, to which he replied, “ganas, all they need is ganas.” Ganas, the Spanish word for “desire,” is celebrated by Mr. Escalante as the one thing his students need to pass his class. Escalante’s simplification of what a student needs to succeed down to a single word displays the compassion and care he has for all his students. In “I Just Wanna Be Average,” Mike Rose portrays his senior English teacher Jack MacFarland as a highly charismatic person who came into his life at the right time. MacFarland, like Escalante, was passionate about teaching, highly intelligent, and managed to leave a positive impact on all …show more content…

When Rose thought he had lost his motivation to pursue an education, Mr. MacFarland came into his life. MacFarland’s curriculum encouraged Rose to read again and made him “feel special by using [his] mind.” Rose also greatly enjoyed receiving good grades on essays in MacFarland’s class. Mr. Escalante came to Garfield at a time when many of its students were getting involved in gangs. He encouraged his students to come to class early and on Saturdays, rewarding the ones who did so with inspiration and the motivation to succeed. Escalante wanted his students to better their lives, so he encouraged them to spend more time in the classroom and rewarded them for doing so. Personally, positive reinforcement from charismatic teachers makes students feel like they’re worth something. Intellectually, this reinforcement helps students see working as less of a chore and more of a habit. On the contrary, while positive reinforcement is common in these classrooms, the same is not true in the real world. Many students are in for a shocking surprise when they learn that in the real world, they receive little for working hard. Some may work very hard and pursue higher education, yet still struggle to advance in

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