graf #7

When I think of my teachers a few jump out as shining examples of how to inspire. There are a chosen few who actually still cared enough to engage even the rockiest of young adult minds and Joe Duffin was one of them. One hot and sticky New Jersey Summer day my Public Speaking class sat fanning ourselves with our notebooks. The door swung open and slammed into it's stops. A red headed blur charged into the room with briefcase swinging wide and eyes bright. "Yoo ya ya yaooo yo!" he said with great enthusiasm. He put his briefcase on the desk and sat down deliberately. The locks on his briefcase clicked open loud as thunder in the now silent room, we all stared, mouths agape. He perused his papers as if not aware of the gibberish he spoke and then stood up and gave us a fifteen minute lecture consisting solely of the syllables 'yoo' and 'ya' juxtaposed in infinite combinations. To up the ante a little bit he then passed out pop quizzes written in 'yooya.' We all struggled to grasp what he was getting at while he sat down and motioned for us to get started. Ten minutes of us looking around at eachother and trying to finish the nonsensical quizzes he finally let us off the hook. "The point of this," we listened, rapt, "is to illustrate the importance of tailoring the langauge you use to suit your audience. If you don't they might not understand your message." Then he gave us all an 'A' for the quiz. I will never remember the date the Bastille was stormed or what the formula for sulfuric acid is but I will NEVER forget that day. Now that, I say, is a teacher.