International School

The Greek philosopher Socrates once said, “The unexamined life is not worth living.” All around him Socrates saw men and women living without purpose and without passion. As he walked around the Athenian marketplace he saw people living for the same basic things: wealth, power and position. Therefore, Socrates set out on a one-man mission to get his fellow Athenians to examine their lives. Socrates was awarded for his efforts with the charge of “corrupting the youth” and was sentenced to death.

It was Socrates’ student Plato who would take up the mantel and start a school to encourage students to ask the hard questions. Instead of just asking ‘what?’ Plato encouraged his students to ask ‘why?’ Plato’s school went on to produce some of the finest minds of that time period. In fact, modern life science and philosophy would be born out of the quest for meaning untaken by those Athenian pupils.

Perhaps that is still the charge for educators today. Education is so much more than memorizing a list of facts or regurgitating information on a test. To be honest, the world does not need any more people who go through the motions and live an unexamined life. True educators inspire their students to examine, to analyze… to THINK! And thinking can lead to yet another question: What if?

What if there were more to my life than working, eating and sleeping? What if my life had meaning? What if my gifts could help fill the great needs of the world (hunger, disease, poverty)? What if God had a purpose… a plan for me?

Every morning as I stand before a classroom of moldable minds I wonder if I am in the presence of greatness. Will one of these students go on be a lawyer fighting for justice, a doctor saving lives, a politician leading with honor and integrity? Or perhaps I am teaching a student who one day will go on to empower and enlighten other minds as an educator. In any case, it is my calling to equip the students with the tools to think for themselves. An unexamined life may not be worth living, but a life with passion and purpose bursts at the seams with potential!

Benjamin Manting

World History/Comparative Government teacher

High School Assistant Principal