Do your math problems
Doc Mordiech
On September 11, 2001 I was a sophomore in high school. I was watching a video in American history class in the morning on the American revolution and then suddenly my teacher stepped away from the room for a few minutes. When he came back into the room he turned the light, turned off the video and said, “there has been an attack on America; a plane has just crashed into one of the twin towers in New York. I'm going to turn the TV on to the news. I think it's important for everyone here to watch what is going on.”
As we tuned in, all I can remember seeing is confusion on all our little innocent faces. Here we were learning about war - the very lesson the American history class was attempting to teach us - all the while an American war was taking place right in front of us in real time.
Five minutes later the Dean called my teacher out of the room and upon his return he turned the TV off and we all were told to get our books ready for home room. We all walked away from that class wondering why it was that he turned the TV off after he spoke to the Dean.
At homeroom, I walked in to our furious teacher explaining to everyone why we, as a student body, couldn't watch the news. The school officials unilaterally decided this and he was not pleased over the fact that his opinion didn't matter. This was the first time I can remember seeing someone who could potentially mutiny on the teaching clock. He was voicing his opinion to us that it was “Un-American” to keep the news from us students. As citizens, he believed we had the right to watch this monumental moment that impacted our lives just as any other. He believed watching the news would be the best education that we could get.
The very next class was math. It was with Dr. Mordiech. He was a Vietnam War vet with and pH.d in mathematics. He was very militant in his teaching style. He was extremely patriotic. He was also very opinionated. He always spoke on things like how rubber saved the United States in World War I and why music was revolutionized by the synthesizer. He was one of those guys.
Meanwhile throughout the rest of the school, every single class was panicking. Kids were leaving for home. Parents were pulling their children out of school purely out of fear. It was as if nobody felt safe. Everything was frantic, there was no resolve. Each class I went to, we talked about what was happening and all the rumors. But not in Dr. Mordiech's class.
In the frenzy that moved throughout the school, there was none of this in Dr. Mordiech's class. I eagerly looked forward to what he had to say because his views on things always shaped my own. I looked up to someone who was very disciplined in his teaching style and got the most out of everyone.
The second we walked into class, he acted as if everything was the same. To him, it was normal day. He did attendance, and we started going over the homework from the night before. But what preceded that was something I will never forget. He said:
“Class, I know there are a lot of uncertainties right now. But I can assure you, the best thing you can do for your families, your school, your futures and your country is to do your math problems. So that is what we are going to do.”
And that was it. He was so convinced that they're was no better option for us young men. And so it was, we pulled out our notebooks and started working through our math problems. And for the next 50 minutes, every boy in that classroom improved at math.
To me, it seems as though Dr. Mordiech believed in learning. He believed that this is the only way you can combat any hardship there is. And as an adult, I must say that no problem ever ceased to exist in my life until I learned it and its causes.
On MLK day, I think a very important thing to remember is that before the speeches and the marches, Dr. King learned. He graduated from Morehouse with a Bachelor's in sociology, Boston University with a Doctorate in systematic theology and also graduated from Crozer Theological Seminary with a Bachelor of Divinity degree.
I think if there's anything I hope to teach my daughter, it's that learning comes before action, during action and also after it. It has been best said in this quote below. Happy MLK DAY.
The best thing for being sad… is to learn something. That is the only thing that never fails. You may grow old and trembling in your anatomies, you may lie awake at night listening to the disorder of your veins, you may miss your only love, you may see the world about you devastated by evil lunatics, or know your honor trampled in the sewers of baser minds. There is only one thing for it then — to learn. Learn why the world wags and what wags it. That is the only thing which the mind can never exhaust, never alienate, never be tortured by, never fear or distrust, and never dream of regretting.
-Merlyn in T.H White's the Once and Future King