The Teacher Who Taught Me to Live by Katelyn

The Teacher Who Taught Me to Live by Katelyn - June 2021 Scholarship Essay

When I look back on my years in the RSU1 school system, I can’t help but feel mixed emotions. I’ve had countless good times like going to the Solar Car Races in 8th grade and visiting an animal sanctuary in 1st grade. I’ve had sad times like when my best friend’s mom died and when my elementary teachers started retiring. Throughout all of the years, there is one name that stands out above the rest: Brian Stanton.
Mr. Stanton was my speech, English 10, and AP Literature teacher during high school. My first memory of him is from the first day of speech class during my 10th grade year. We had to talk about ourselves for 30 seconds in front of the class. I ended my time by saying that I had English next block with B Stant. He responded by asking if I was the one who wrote triple the word count for the summer writing assignment. I was.
The entirety of that school year was spent doing small written responses about myself and winning Kahoots about the books we read. Mr. Stanton joked around with us a lot but was able to transition to being serious with ease. He had no problem using his own life stories to help us better understand the books we were reading and his lectures.
Admittedly, I was a timid 10th grader, but taking speech really helped bring me out of my shell. Mr. Stanton was always very supportive, so I felt safe being open in class. One day, I decided to talk about how my parents were no longer together. I shared personal details of not knowing why they broke up and that I was afraid of ending up like them. At the end of my speech, Mr. Stanton told me that he was proud of me for working so hard to succeed in school despite my family issues. From that day on, I had a soft spot for him. Though I won’t admit it to him, I view Mr. Stanton as a father figure. When my own dad wasn’t around, Mr. Stanton was there teaching me about life through literature and telling me he was proud.
When senior year came around and I had B Stant for AP Literature, I was ecstatic. Our class grew very close and did updates on our lives daily while still having time to do schoolwork. We read Shakespeare, Plath, and Hemingway while still taking time to read more modern tales. Even though it was an AP course, he cared more about having us be ready for college and the real world than for the AP exam.
For each book we read, we had to write a reflection paper on a topic of our choice. I wrote the first paper with only a little bit of difficulty, but the second essay was a real challenge. I couldn’t seem to get the paper right. Mr. Stanton edited it over and over again. He talked to me about it in and out of close. He didn’t give up on me even when I was struggling. Eventually, I got the paper right and got A’s on every reflection afterward.
Mr. Stanton has turned me into who I am today. Without him, I would be less confident, have fewer writing skills, and a far worse college application. He taught me how to make eye contact while speaking, write a thesis, and edited my college essay until it was near perfect. HE gave me an academic award for each course I took with him. Any success I achieve will be largely credited to him. I’m not afraid to go to college because I know that he has prepared me for it.