I am a passionate young man with a deep, lifelong interest in education. In high school I was fortunate enough to encounter an extraordinary teacher who went out of his way indeed, dedicated his entire life to showing young people the value of real knowledge. His philosophy was this: that a teacher who truly desires to teach, ought to teach up to his or her students, rather than down. What this meant was that a teacher must first of all see the beauty in whatever is being taught, must actually feel it, and must present it to the students as something they will also find beautiful. Because of this, my primary interest in life has been literature and philosophy, and I am myself a dedicated writer. But there is profound significance in every avenue of human thought; it is the teacher's responsibility to make that significance apparent to the student. This is not to say, of course, that grade point averages or standardized test scores are unimportant. They are very important, and academic excellence is of paramount value in building a happy, successful future. Coupling this imperative with the inherent value of knowledge has, however, meant the difference in my life and in the lives of my students between learning as a chore and learning as a passion. I have two years of teaching experience, both abroad. In Oxford, England I worked with high school students in a self-directed, year-long course. We explored, based on their interests and my qualifications, the history of European politics, political philosophy in general, and the complexities of current events. Following that experience, I moved to Spain, where I taught English at Ies Biel Marti, a public secondary school in the Balearic Islands. There I developed not only my pedagogical skills, but also course organization and lesson planning.