Sal Khan

Picture of Sal Khankhanacademy.orgHe toiled to graduate from MIT to become a lucrative hedge fund analyst, a job in finance that involves analyzing large investments only meant for investors with a large amount of wealth to participate in; however, he gave up all of this to go into a world of unknown with narrow chances in the hopes of helping others. Salman Khan did this in order to help mentor students through the faults of the American Education system. Salman Khan, commonly known as Sal Khan knew since high school that he enjoyed math and teaching. He even achieved a perfect score on his math SAT. In 2004, Sal Khan became a successful hedge fund analyst, a lucrative profession, and started tutoring his cousins in math remotely, through video. As he tutored his cousins, he realized that he has a true gift and the ability to help students all around the world. A few years later, he founded Khan Academy, a website where anyone can learn for free through simple, concise educational videos and articles that focus on mastery based learning. It is selflessness and determination that was used to pioneer a revolutionary breakthrough in education. Sal Khan is a quintessential example of a hero as a result of his selflessness and determination to guide students through the shortcomings of the education system which eventually fostered into a mission to provide a free world class education for everyone around the world.

Through Sal Khan’s efforts, he has taken many risks not only involving him, but also his family with the goal of mentoring students through the current imperfect education system. For instance, Sal Khan explains that he was

“essentially putting all… [his] spare time into… tutoring videos… [he] had a day job in finance" (Adams).

For five years, Khan worked in finance and was devoted to making revolutionary educational videos after he realized that the videos had a profound, positive impact on people around the world. This manifests how Khan is selfless in his actions because he took the educational videos so seriously, putting all of his spare time into them, rather than just doing them as a side project. Furthermore, Sal Khan wasn’t taking these risks for his personal gain;

“If Khan is pushing his academy for anyone, it would seem to be for that next generation. He got off a hedge-fund track that was promising high-seven-figure payoffs so he could pilot this startup, one he is particularly thrilled offers no lure of stock options and instant riches" (della Cava).

Sal Khan had a thorough education to lay down the path for a stable career; but despite all of the work he had done, he gave it all up to focus fully on helping students, not knowing if he could support himself through this, showing how he thinks about others before himself. Through this, one can only see how Sal Khan is selfless, however it takes more than selflessness to be a deserving hero.

Sal Khan Filming Videosnytimes.comBeyond selflessness, one also must manifest determination to be a hero. Sal Khan first began tutoring his cousins in math, eventually leading to him being determined to change the approach in education; to a simpler approach for mastery based learning, learning a concept and only moving on once one has mastered a concept rather than the current system of learning and concept and moving on, regardless of one’s proficiency. This is evident when



Sal Khan, aside from making educational videos to help students through the pitfalls of the current education system, is trying to stop the problem from the source, the schools. Although these norms have been in place for generations, his determination to change education for the better extends to the source of the problem rather than just doing his part in making videos. This can be seen when

“Khan's innovative methods and approachable style have skeptics and believers alike flocking to his site. Its 3,000-plus videos have been viewed more than 175 million times, and students complete an average of 2 million problems a day” (“Sal Khan”).

Despite the opposition that Sal Khan faces for trying to help the education system through his own approach, such as teachers being opposed to having a classroom based on mastery learning and utilizing video in the classroom, not only does he continue working towards his goals, he is understanding of the criticism rather than being put down by it. In summary, Sal Khan exhibits the determination of the a hero.

Sal Khan gives a TED Talk proposing Mastery Based Learningted.comIn essence, Sal Khan is deserving of the title of being a hero as seen subsequently through his selfless actions and determination. He works intensively to fix issues in education that have existed for hundreds of years in the United States which displays his selflessness and determination. It takes immense selflessness in order to reach towards goals that one doesn't know would be possible and yet risks their welfare in the narrow chance that they can help others. In addition, a great amount of determination is required in order to try to tackle an education system that contains a complex of issues. Sal Khan, today, impacts students and families around the world through a comprehensive curriculum of simple and concise videos. Furthermore, he provides a beacon of hope for reforms in education. He toiled to graduate from MIT to have a stable job, however gave it all up in the hopes of helping tutor others. In the end, however he has changed the way that people approach education.

References

Adams, Richard. “Sal Khan: the Man Who Tutored His Cousin – and Started a

Revolution.” The Guardian, Guardian News and Media, 23 Apr. 2013, www.theguardian.com/education/2013/apr/23/sal-khan-academy-tutored-educational-website.

Brooks, Roger. "To teach his own: a transcontinental tutoring session with his cousin

set Sal Khan on course to alter education forever." Success, Jan. 2013, p. 58+. Biography In Context, https://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A317204375/BIC?u=powa9245&sid=BIC&xid=a06f0348. Accessed 9 May 2018.

della Cava, Marco R. "Sal Khan commands a worldwide classroom." USA Today, 30

May 2012, p. 01D. Biography In Context, https://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A291377948/BIC?u=powa9245&sid=BIC&xid=975d5129. Accessed 10 May 2018.

"Sal Khan." Newsmakers, vol. 3, Gale, 2012. Biography In Context,

https://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/K1618005727/BIC?u=powa9245&sid=BIC&xid=c303189d. Accessed 10 May 2018.