I Quit, So She Facebook Blocked Me by Maria

I Quit, So She Facebook Blocked Me by Maria - July 2016 Scholarship Essay

Ladies and gentlemen, sit down and relax, because things are about to get personal up in here. I want to tell you the story of the most valuable lesson(s) I learned from a teacher.
(Warning: This story is not the average story where the student and teacher get along and share a bond. It is also not the average story where the student and teacher hate each other so much that they eventually learn their own limits.)
So let us begin… Last week I learned that my high school teacher blocked me on Facebook. STOP RIGHT THERE! Yes, you can reread that again, think of all the possible scenarios for such a thing, and come up with many conclusions. I will tell you right now, that none of you will guess the actual events that led up to this, but if you do then kudos to you.
Yes, my teacher blocked me, and the thought of it is weird in every way because 1) I’m no longer a high school student, 2) we were Facebook friends when I WAS a high school student, 3) she was never my actual teacher to begin with and 4) I never thought that quitting a club would lead to this.
Some of you might be confused right now, or you might be starting to put the pieces together. For those who are confused, let me start about 2 years ago when I joined IDEAS Club. IDEAS Club is a small immigrant youth empowerment club that strains to achieve the means needed to help its members reach a higher education. It’s not a highly recognized club at our school, and it may be one of the few in its kind. However, it was the perfect fit for me considering I met all the requirements: an undocumented youth striving for a higher education. When I joined the club there was very few members and so it wasn’t hard to make friends and become extremely active, I loved it. In fact, I loved it so much that I became Vice President.
That was about a year ago.
Vice president may not be as great as being the President but boy did I leave my mark. I had the title, but my responsibilities took on more of what the President should have been doing, and therefore everybody considered me President. Even my club administrator, aka the teacher, agreed that I was more present than the president was. Of course I was fine with this because I loved the club and I had big hopes for it. I dreamed that it would become a highly recognized club that all schools would have. I wanted it to become a “network” so I aimed to make the club grow.
When the club started growing, we received more kids with different backgrounds and different needs that had different goals. The range of students that were coming to us for help was ever changing and expanding. I thought it was great. However, the teacher didn’t think so. We called a club board meeting to assess the issues and discuss possible solutions. We couldn’t reach a decision and it caused the club to be split into two sides. Those who wanted it to grow and those who didn’t. I bet you can tell which side I was on, and what side the teacher was on. I was not about to back down.
Now those of you who have led clubs and have had goals for them might understand that sometimes we don’t have a say. What I mean is that when you go up against the club administrator, who is a teacher, is your senior, and started the club before you even knew it existed, then you have no power in saying where it goes if they do not want it to go to same destination. So, that was that. The teacher told the board it was not changing, and that if we thought otherwise then the club was not for us and we should leave.
The door had just opened so I walked out.
In the aftermath of it all I look back and sincerely believe that none of us knew what effect any of it would have had. We, I, didn’t know what had just happened. A few weeks after I quit, I learned that I had previously been nominated for the club scholarship and was now disqualified of receiving the award, even after all the dedication and work I put into it. Moreover, being the way I am, dumb, I went to the teacher to confront her about it.
That was THE DUMBEST decision I have ever taken, because it only made things worse. To save time, let’s just say I made the teacher so livid that she called my top choice school to call off my recommendation letter. In short, I lost the school.
Nevertheless, let’s not be sad. I laugh now that I think about it because I learned so much from her. I learned that if you are going to quit, hand in a resignation letter and fully understand what it is that you are doing and do not regret it. I learned that sometimes you have to be defiant and stand up for what you believe in. Most importantly, I learned that some teachers do act like teenagers and you should NOT befriend them on Facebook.