Writing Challenge: The Professor
Today's writing challenge will be quick and easy, since I've been a little behind and my hands have been killing me.
From the same 365 Writing Prompt Challenge I used last week, comes this weeks writing challenge about a teacher that influenced me.
Since the young days of Pre-Pre K (yes that was real), I have always loved teachers. There was something about them that made me idolize who they were and what they did, and I always latched onto them to be my guidance.
I used to dream of being a teacher when I was a child and who knows, someday I may still do that. For me, teachers are the saviors in the world of education and the more great teachers there are, the more kids want to learn and will learn.
It is extremely difficult to choose just one teacher that influenced my life in such a way, since so many did. From Mrs. Meyers, my first grade teacher who encouraged my mom to put me in Speech Therapy classes (I had an impediment), to Miss Roberts, my fourth grade teacher, who made me fall in love with writing and creation, all of my teachers, for the most part, have been influential.
There were Mrs. Vaden and Mrs. Turner, my homeschool teachers in the sixth grade, who made reading and learning not only fun, but inspirational. It was Mrs. Turner who was there for me when I "became a woman" and who helped me call my mom, even though I was mortified. And Mrs. Vaden who was always by my side, pushing me to read at the highest levels and encouraging me along the way.
But of all my teachers that I have loved so immensely, Mrs. Guidry always stands out. When I was a freshman in high school, my family and I moved to San Antonio to go to school, as my mom got a great promotion at Trinity University. I was heartbroken and devastated to leave my first boyfriend behind (young love) more than anything, so I was not always the easiest teenager to be around.
When I got to Taft High School in the fall of 2000 I was blown away by the massiveness of not only the school, but the amount of kids that were there. I can't recall exactly how many students were at Taft, but if I had to guess, there were about 3,000 plus kids, compared to the maybe 800 I was used to going to school with.
Mrs. Guidry was my AP English teacher for both my freshman and sophomore years and I loved her so. The books we were assigned to read for her class weren't easy, but challenged me to become a better writer and reader as well. I was enrolled in a classroom filled with some of the smartest students I have ever known, and there I was, this little small town gal completely out of my realm.
She challenged me every day and she was the easiest woman to talk to. When we were given our Final Exam my sophomore year, to write about the Lord of the Flies, my least favorite book (sorry), I was incredibly bummed. There was never anything I loved about the book and it never really intrigued me, though that may be different now. But I took the challenge and wrote my five page essay on metaphors and analogies and felt doomed.
I found out a few days afterwards that my mom was moving us back to Uvalde and I'd be finishing the rest of my high school life back home. By then I had changed a bit and was actually nervous to go back to school with the kids I had known all my life.
But on the very last day of school, there was Mrs. Guidry. She found me in the hall on my way to the bus stop and told me that I got a perfect score on my final; only me and the smartest kid in my class got perfect scores. I was stunned and I cried, literally cried, right in front of her. I hugged her so hard and thanked her for inspiring me to be a better writer and most likely told her that she was my favorite teacher of all time.
The truth about Mrs. Guidry however, is that she wasn't my favorite teacher because I got good grades or accomplished something incredible in my two years with her, but rather, she was my favorite teacher because she cared. She gave a damn more than any teacher I ever had and motivated me to follow my dreams. She was the kind of teacher all parents dream their children having, and she was mine for two amazing years. I loved and still love Mrs. Guidry to this day. Maybe someday she will read this or my book (someday) and see her name in my thanks, knowing just how much she inspired me.
I will never forget the lessons I learned in her class about life, love, metaphors (haha), fear, and everything in general. Thank you Mrs. Guidry for inspiring me more than you could ever know. And to all teachers who have reached out and inspired millions of kids around the world, you are the greatest blessings.
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Since the young days of Pre-Pre K (yes that was real), I have always loved teachers. There was something about them that made me idolize who they were and what they did, and I always latched onto them to be my guidance.
I used to dream of being a teacher when I was a child and who knows, someday I may still do that. For me, teachers are the saviors in the world of education and the more great teachers there are, the more kids want to learn and will learn.
It is extremely difficult to choose just one teacher that influenced my life in such a way, since so many did. From Mrs. Meyers, my first grade teacher who encouraged my mom to put me in Speech Therapy classes (I had an impediment), to Miss Roberts, my fourth grade teacher, who made me fall in love with writing and creation, all of my teachers, for the most part, have been influential.
There were Mrs. Vaden and Mrs. Turner, my homeschool teachers in the sixth grade, who made reading and learning not only fun, but inspirational. It was Mrs. Turner who was there for me when I "became a woman" and who helped me call my mom, even though I was mortified. And Mrs. Vaden who was always by my side, pushing me to read at the highest levels and encouraging me along the way.
But of all my teachers that I have loved so immensely, Mrs. Guidry always stands out. When I was a freshman in high school, my family and I moved to San Antonio to go to school, as my mom got a great promotion at Trinity University. I was heartbroken and devastated to leave my first boyfriend behind (young love) more than anything, so I was not always the easiest teenager to be around.
When I got to Taft High School in the fall of 2000 I was blown away by the massiveness of not only the school, but the amount of kids that were there. I can't recall exactly how many students were at Taft, but if I had to guess, there were about 3,000 plus kids, compared to the maybe 800 I was used to going to school with.
Mrs. Guidry was my AP English teacher for both my freshman and sophomore years and I loved her so. The books we were assigned to read for her class weren't easy, but challenged me to become a better writer and reader as well. I was enrolled in a classroom filled with some of the smartest students I have ever known, and there I was, this little small town gal completely out of my realm.
She challenged me every day and she was the easiest woman to talk to. When we were given our Final Exam my sophomore year, to write about the Lord of the Flies, my least favorite book (sorry), I was incredibly bummed. There was never anything I loved about the book and it never really intrigued me, though that may be different now. But I took the challenge and wrote my five page essay on metaphors and analogies and felt doomed.
I found out a few days afterwards that my mom was moving us back to Uvalde and I'd be finishing the rest of my high school life back home. By then I had changed a bit and was actually nervous to go back to school with the kids I had known all my life.
But on the very last day of school, there was Mrs. Guidry. She found me in the hall on my way to the bus stop and told me that I got a perfect score on my final; only me and the smartest kid in my class got perfect scores. I was stunned and I cried, literally cried, right in front of her. I hugged her so hard and thanked her for inspiring me to be a better writer and most likely told her that she was my favorite teacher of all time.
The truth about Mrs. Guidry however, is that she wasn't my favorite teacher because I got good grades or accomplished something incredible in my two years with her, but rather, she was my favorite teacher because she cared. She gave a damn more than any teacher I ever had and motivated me to follow my dreams. She was the kind of teacher all parents dream their children having, and she was mine for two amazing years. I loved and still love Mrs. Guidry to this day. Maybe someday she will read this or my book (someday) and see her name in my thanks, knowing just how much she inspired me.
I will never forget the lessons I learned in her class about life, love, metaphors (haha), fear, and everything in general. Thank you Mrs. Guidry for inspiring me more than you could ever know. And to all teachers who have reached out and inspired millions of kids around the world, you are the greatest blessings.
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