Skills and Passion

I have one day left at work in Zion National Park. I will be training my replacement, a young cook stationed on the saute section of the Line.

One of my most rewarding tasks in Life is teaching, especially when the student is ready and has passion, when its not just their job or an obligation.

Some people just bring passion to whatever they're doing. Maybe they're the kind that don't jump into the things they're not interested in. These people listen, have an open mind, are friendly, but can be very driven.

Driven is good.
Motivating students and employees just takes extra time away from teaching. I would rather have an unskilled person with passion than a skilled person who doesn't care. There are plenty of those. The ones Thoreau said were living lives of desperation, laying up for a sick day while making themselves sick simultaneously.

Give me passion any day, a desire to improve and make the most of every moment.

You can teach skills. You can't teach passion.