Learning Life's Lessons by Linda

Learning Life's Lessons by Linda - July 2014 Scholarship Essay

There is no doubt about it, when I was a jr. high school student; I was headed down the path of destruction. My parents didn’t know what to do with me, perhaps they were tired after years of parenting my older siblings and they did not have the energy to set me straight, or maybe perhaps I was just too stubborn and persisted in doing things my own way. I had been hanging out with the troublemakers, skipping classes and seemingly always getting into fights. I had convinced myself that I was being so careless about my own safety that I would never see High School. But thankfully I was wrong, that first day of High School was the day that changed my life forever and standing at the doorway of new possibilities had to have been the world’s greatest teacher, Ms. Mary Richardson.

Ms. Mary Richardson was an English/Drama teacher at Central High school, she had taught there for many years. She had such charisma that everyone, student and teacher, knew who she was even if they had never been to her class. She wore outfits that seemed fashionable for the 1950’s, and to them she added scarfs and huge sunglasses, as if she was a famous movie star. She smoked cigarettes and continued to do so in the theater closet, even after smoking was banned in school. No one could ever forget her crazy, and contagious laugh, which sounded like a cross between Woody Woodpecker and Freddy Kruger, in fact to describe her now makes her seem like an educational administration worst nightmare, and don’t kid yourself, she did take on the administration when she felt some wrong needed to be right.

But this teacher changed my world, especially in the way I had viewed education. Before I met her education didn’t hold any meaning for me, after I met her I had gained the esteem I needed to try and be the best student I could be; It was because she wore the outrageous outfits that she allowed me to embrace my differences, and even to showcase them as strengths. It was because I knew of her secretly smoking cigarettes that I now learned that I had the ability to be trusted, and to trust in myself. It was also because of her crazy laugh that I started to realize that I didn’t have to be perfect, as long as I learned to laugh at myself, and that gave me the ability to try true new things that I may have never tried before out of the fear of looking foolish. And by standing up to the administration, she taught me to have courage and to stand up for myself and believe me that is the lesson has proved helpful several times over the years.

Ms. Richardson’s class was the first room I walked into as a freshman, I remember that day well because as we filled out paperwork she stood directly behind me, as if she already somehow knew I needed someone to watch over my shoulder. I then took her Theater classes and later became her teacher’s aide, to me she became more than a teacher, she had become my friend. She took the time to listen to my problems, or my ideas, to encourage me and offer insight without being judgmental and most important, she made me want to make her proud, and she even took an interest in the rest of my schooling, often advising me on classes to take and insisting on seeing my report cards. Her expectations of me gradually increased, and for the first time in my life I began to care about my education. Ms. Richardson provided me with the attention I needed to change my life around.

I continued to seek Ms. Richardson’s approval long after graduation, once I even told her that I had aspirations of being a professional movie star, to which she replied that I had enough talent to do whatever I wanted to do, “BUT,” I should consider being a movie star that also has a college education.
Ms. Richardson passed away about 15 years ago, and today I am now a full-fledged adult. I started college after high school but didn’t complete any type of degree, I had made up my mind to move away and Ms. Richardson, although still supportive of my decision, still asked me to reconsider finishing college. Instead of taking her advice, I took the hard path, worked hard every day and became a corporate travel agent. Much to my dismay, after working many years my job was outsourced to another country and I found myself with obsolete job skills and that those skills were very specific only to the job I did. That is how I ended up making the decision to go back to college as an adult and once again trying to turn my life around.

To this day, when I feel like I am faced with a moral or ethical dilemma, the teachings of Ms. Richardson still resonates within me and when a teacher can influence a student after so many years, that makes for one amazing and powerful teacher. I cannot and do not want to even imagine how different my life would have been different without her there from day one, and I still hope that she is proud of me.