Mr. Chips taught us the true meaning of discipline. The Latin teacher was initially hated for being boring and stodgy but he taught us that one can change. He ended his days as the headmaster of Brookfield School, truly loved by his students.
John Keating is the unconventional English teacher who taught us to break the rules and follow our heart. He is the living embodiment of love and poetry and his perception has allowed us to think differently. Our world desperately needs a person like Keating to show teachers how to win over a student’s heart and be inspirational at the same time.
Professor McGonagall, the Transfiguration teacher at Hogwarts, has always been one of our favourite characters in the Harry Potter movies. She is the perfect mix of stern and impartial and extremely supportive. She has taught us to do the right thing no matter how difficult. She has taught us to put aside differences in the hour of somebody’s need. Oh, she also showed us that just because you get older doesn’t mean you can’t have a little fun (remember the walking statues?).
If anyone can make Palaeontology interesting, it’s Ross Geller. He taught us that even the least famous subject can make you happy if you truly love it from the bottom of your heart. From faking a British accent on his first day as a prof to dressing up as a dinosaur for his students on Halloween, we wish we had such an entertaining professor in college.
Professor Charles Xaviers, the principal of the Xavier’s School for Gifted Youngsters, was the one who provided a safe haven to the young mutants. He taught them to accept themselves as who they are and we learnt that too. He also taught us to see beyond the apparent and the good or bad, and always be the champion of the downtrodden.
Set in 1950s America, she’s an art history teacher at Wellesley College who introduces not just modern art to the college girls but also modern thought, helping them break free from conservative norms of society and the notion that the main aim of a girl’s life is to get married. She teaches us to dream, and dream big!
One of the most loved characters from our favourite Glee, the Spanish teacher and Glee Club coach of William McKinley High School, Will Schuester, is the one all of us dream about. It is not just that he is absolutely dishy, can sing and dance, and is overall very, very cool, but he is all about bringing out the best in his students, even when he has to put his dreams on hold for them.
Miss Norbury, the maths teacher of Northshore High, taught us to stand up for ourselves and opened our eyes to the fact that giving up our priorities for anything is not justified. Even when she was struggling with her divorce, she managed to be kind to the girl who was mean to her. We really wish we had a teacher like her.
This symbology and religious iconology professor of Harvard University gets dragged into cracking codes, solving mysterious puzzles and deciphering hidden clues to keep himself and others from getting harmed. What he taught us is perseverence, bravery and grit. We wouldn’t mind travelling the world with him. We would also love to borrow his favourite Mickey Mouse watch.
The man who sparked our curiosity in archaeology may not be the ideal example of a responsible teacher but he sure makes up for all that with the fun and the adventure. He has given us the quest to go after the most insane and the impossible.
Text: Debolina Banerjee
