For you Ms. O by Erika

For you Ms. O by Erika - July 2016 Scholarship Essay

It is no secret that teachers possess some type of superpower or perhaps they possess some psychic abilities. Looking back at my fourth grade teacher, I recall her saying to my mom at a parent/teacher meeting that I was the most consistent student she had ever had in her years of teaching. I am not sure that I was very consistent, but I learned during that very moment that she had very high expectations of me by saying that. It stuck with me that I was expected to be an achiever and that I had to live up to the expectation that I was a very consistent student.
Learning to have high expectations of myself has been the most important lesson I have ever learned from a teacher. This wonderful teacher taught me the entire fourth grade curriculum including math, reading, writing and all other subjects; however, believing in myself was the most important and impacting lesson that she taught me. I learned that people learn to behave, act, and achieve as they are expected.
As a young child, I truly believed that I had to be consistent because my teacher said that I was. Now, as a young adult on my way to college, this experience from my fourth grade year, is an important part of my character. I remember vividly how Ms. O told my mom as we were leaving the meeting, "there is your future doctor". Ms. O passed away a few days after the parent/teacher meeting. It was a huge loss to all of her students, but something that I will always preserve from her is that valuable lesson to expect great things from myself.