Teachers started recognizing me and praising me for being smart in science and that made me want to be even smarter in science!
School visits are something I do fairly often: I always say to the students that somebody has got to end up with the interesting careers, so why not them?
A student never forgets an encouraging private word, when it is given with sincere respect and admiration.
To those of you who received honours, awards and distinctions, I say well done. And to the C students, I say you, too, can be president of the United States.
Our best teachers do more than impart facts and figures - they inspire and encourage students and instill a true desire to learn. That's a fine art in itself.
My elementary school teachers were big on pushing kids to read. If you read a certain amount of books, they would provide you with incentives, sort of like what we are doing with the WrestleMania Reading Challenge.
Most of my teachers wanted to send me to the principal's office. But my fourth-grade teacher once put her arms around me and said, 'You sure write well.' And I've had good penmanship until this day. She was the only one who ever said anything nice to me. That's the kind of motivation that students need.
The students I have come in contact with at Harvard are highly competent individuals who prefer to be challenged and respond well to encouragement.
The California Science Center is a cornerstone in California's push to educate and encourage students to reach their full potential and to pursue careers in science and engineering.
