Life sucks, Then You Die. by Abigail

Life sucks, Then You Die. by Abigail - July 2016 Scholarship Essay

During my first week in my AP English Language and Composition class of my junior year, a phrase no one seated in that classroom could ever expect to hear from an employee at our high school came out of my teacher’s mouth:

“Life sucks, then you die.”

I’m sure you can imagine my initial astonishment at hearing this. I mean, what kind of teacher says something this negative to his students - especially while creating a first impression? Teachers are supposed to be inspiring and supportive of the adolescents they chose to advise. So why was this guy who we barely knew creating such an adverse impression? Shortly after, however, I came to the realization that he was just handing us some of the best advice we will probably ever receive in our entire lives.
A lot of people might have felt offended if they had heard this, but like many of the topics taught in English class, the true meaning of the quote was not staring at us in the face. This teacher’s goal was to make us think and that’s exactly what I did. As I pondered this saying, I realized the actual message my teacher was trying to convey: make the most of what you are handed.
This teacher challenged us continuously through the year by making us write several different types of papers, from synthesis essays to rhetorical analyses, and never letting us settle, or settling himself, on first draft writing - which he could always tell when we did this last minute. His overall point was not to make us hate English or writing, but to be able to conquer any challenges thrown at us. We can not choose the cards we are dealt, we can only play them.
Sadly, this teacher’s retirement year has now arrived, but I am forever grateful that I experienced a teacher who was not afraid to hand us the bluntness and difficulty that our lives will also forever hand us. He’s off to writing a novel now and I am off to taking up any challenge my life decides to hand to me, and conquering it. Life is short, so do whatever it is that makes you happy. Don’t live life for anybody else.