Elmo: Chemistry Teacher Extraordinaire by Caitlin

Elmo: Chemistry Teacher Extraordinaire by Caitlin - July 2014 Scholarship Essay

I remember dreading Chemistry class. I heard horror stories of how hard Chemistry was, how horrid the class was as a whole. I was terrified, but then I walked in the class, and realized everything I heard was wrong. My teacher, Mrs. Elmer, AKA ‘Elmo’ made me excited for school.

When she first introduced herself, she said that she wanted to be called ‘Elmo.’ Her corner filled with Elmo dolls proved her love of the character Elmo, and it made me already like her. She then introduced our first lesson, and I already was captivated. She made a big effort to remember all our names and to know little things about each and every student. After the first class, I knew already I would thoroughly enjoy the class.

Throughout the year, I was excited to go into my first period class of Chemistry, even when there was a test. She was such a great teacher that I got perfect scores on a lot of her tests, and each one hundred percent made me want to work harder and do well on each and every assignment. At the second semester mark, I started talking to Mrs. Elmer in the morning before class, and she really understood me. I could talk to her about things other than Chemistry, and she would listen and help me with school itself. She always helped me perform to my highest potential. When it was the weekend, I was actually sad, because it meant no Chemistry class.

When things got rough for me second semester, she helped me and made sure I didn’t go on a downward spiral of depression. Each and every morning I would go to her room, whether it was to learn more Chemistry or to just talk about things. Not only did she help me, she helped one of my friends as well be more captivated with school. The best thing about her is that she actually cared, she didn’t just give assignments and not care whether or not we did them right. She wanted us to strive for perfection, and she did it in the nicest and most supportive way possible. She would always let us correct our papers, and get half points back for each correction, which made people learn and grow from their mistakes. Mrs. Elmer understood that all students learned in a different way, and would do different types of lessons to help every single person with each type of learning.

Mrs. Elmer was by far the best teacher I have had in my years of schooling. She made me want to strive for greatness in ever class, and be a better person in general. Even when nitric acid got over my arm, she made me not give up on labs or Chemistry. Her heart was made of gold, and she is one of the nicest people I met. Her way of teaching and demeanor definitely made the class amazing, and helped me embrace learning more than I did before.