Rodgers by Michelle

Rodgers by Michelle - August 2013 Scholarship Essay

I was sweating profusely. Meeting new teachers made me nervous and I knew that she meant business. Everyone in the class toke a seat as the bell rang through our ears. I could hear feet shuffling across the floor as students were getting comfortable in the dark green plastic seats. A sign that read, “Ms. Rodgers” in graffiti style handwriting was strung across the whiteboard. Tattoos and piercings covered her small muscular body. She began to speak loudly about how a class should be and what our expectations as a class were for this upcoming school year. I wasn’t sure what to think of that intimidating woman on the first day of school, she changed my view on what a teacher normally looks like and replaced it with an urban queen.
                Months passed quickly in my English class with Ms. Rodgers. She never failed to surprise my class with a new lesson that would expand our minds and our capacity to learn. She stretched us to new lengths and showed us that a closed mind is about as good as having a stone inside one’s skull. I have learned many things in my years of being a student but the most interesting lesson I have learned in a class is that first impressions are only as important as we make them. If my school looked at Ms. Rodgers and said that she did not comply with the normal “look” of a teacher and declined her application in result, I would have never met my amazing English teacher. Ms. Rodgers taught me about English but she also taught me about life. She taught me that a person’s character is what matters most because people will always be able to see the kind of person you are past the clothes and makeup.