How a History Teacher Guided Me to the Right Path by Athena

How a History Teacher Guided Me to the Right Path by Athena - June 2019 Scholarship Essay

One of my favorite teachers was my 7th-grade history teacher. She loved to laugh and sing with us. She also taught me a very important lesson.

I was usually a good student. I had good grades and was very introverted, therefore did not talk much in class. But in middle school, everyone wants to fit in and be popular. Just like everyone else, I adopted trends like wearing Jordans and acted for "ghetto" as that is why my school was called by more affluent communities and schools nearby.

Acting ghetto, you also have to act like a fool in school. No rapper glorifies getting your education or working hard in class. They talk about skipping school, selling drugs, having sex, and other awful ideas.

To fit in, I became friends with these people, especially the class clowns. Because I decided to engage with them, I faced the consequences and my teacher taught me a lesson that always echoes in my head.

In the first incident, I skipped class for the first and last time. After coming back from a field trip, one of these hooligans suggested that we skip our history test. So I hid in the bathroom for the whole class, wishing that I had a phone so I wouldn't be so bored. How selfish. After class, she confronted me and sat down with my father and me to tell the story. To say the least, he was furious. I got one of the worst spankings I've ever gotten, but it was well deserved.

In the only other incident I had in that class, I was fake arguing with a guy. He joked "fight me, you won't" and to seem tough and real, I slapped him. It wasn't hard, but it was distracting enough to get me sent to the out. I went to the bathroom, locked myself in a gross stall, and cried for half an hour. In that stall, I thought about how much I've changed for the worse. I came back into the class with a vow to never act up like that again.

She had a different approach to teaching lessons. Usually, teachers from my middle school would just yell at the student, sparking a full-on argument. What she did was show how disappointed she was through facial expression and silence. She would also give a big hug after the air has cleared. She's just one of those teachers who you'd want to be a good student for. It really caused me to reflect on my actions and change paths for the better.

Like former CBS journalist Charles Kuralt said, "Good teachers know how to bring out the best in students."