To explicate: to make clear or interpret.

Each day, Mr. Hayward’s third hour Honors American Lit class is started with a quote on the board. As a class, we discuss its sentence function, sentence structure, and language. And then, we explicate it. Approximately two minutes later, I am able to understand the importance of that specific quote and attempt to apply it to my daily life.

I often times find myself angrily pondering the true significance of algebraically interpreting a polynomial function or balancing a chemical equation – how will this help me in the real world? Is determining the limit of a graph going to help me build relationships and construct a supported family?

It can be common to lose interest and drive in something that seems irrelevant to our lives. We forget what is truly important and devote ourselves to focusing on the outcome – the 4.0 GPA and 36 ACT score. Although these scores have the potential to lead us to a world-renowned university, I’ve come to realize that these extraordinarily exceptional scores are only influential on our lives when we have the ability to implement the lessons learned – to explicate each bar graph, timeline and globular protein.

With this knowledge and skill of explication, we not only gain academic intelligence, we gain a better understanding of the way people think, act and feel. Everything we learn throughout the school day has meaning both indirectly and directly, but we are responsible for connecting the dots.

A chemistry problem set seems much more meaningful when I take a moment to try to comprehend the reason why I’m learning the material. Afterwards, I feel enough drive to succeed. This moment should be taken before every class period. This moment of explication can limit our community’s obsession academic reputation and shift our focus to the importance of the material we’re learning every day. This way, we can have a positive impact on society and ultimately better the information-filled world around us.