Teacher's Pet by Moriah

Teacher's Pet by Moriah - June 2019 Scholarship Essay

My senior English teacher is quite a character. She’s very passionate about her job and role as a high school teacher. It’s always been clear how seriously she takes it. However, she stands out from all of my other teachers whom I’ve encountered in my past 12 years of school. One day I came into class and my teacher immediately proclaimed, “You must close the door behind you!” I did and turned to see a medium-sized bird sitting on her shoulder. My initial shock diffused and I sat down. Everyone was talking about why she had a bird on her shoulder. She stood up and told the class “Rufus was starting to get depressed at home, so I thought I’d bring him here to cheer him up, please don’t leave the classroom without notifying me first and shut it quickly when you return.” No one responded and we started with the warm up. It started to get kind of loud in the classroom and the bird suddenly jumped off her shoulder into the air, beginning to fly. A couple kids yelled out and the situation was turning chaotic as the bird continued to land and then start flying again. My teacher stood up and started singing. I didn’t recognize the song, it sounded like an original perhaps and was noticeably off-tune. Nevertheless, the room fell silent and she walked over towards the bird, pointed at her own shoulder and Rufus flew to it. She urged him to grab on to her fingers and she then placed him into his cage. All the while still singing. Everyone was absolutely dumbfounded. High school has been one of the most boring and uninteresting aspects of our lives and suddenly on a slightly cold Thursday morning we witness a scene out of a Disney movie. While utterly surprised I couldn’t help but awe at her confidence and dignity. She was totally content and when the whole class couldn’t help but make fun of her, she wasn’t embarrassed. That’s part of who she is and she doesn’t try to cover it up or act another way because there’s an audience or people judging. She doesn’t change to please anyone but herself. Though I was definitely confused at the moment, the longer I thought about it the more I was inspired by her. It’s so easy for people, especially kids my age, to try and be someone or something they’re not in order to appeal to others and gain their attention and affection. With social media and certain norms set for my generation it’s hard to realize what you’re doing and try to be your own person sometimes. So that Thursday morning was a wake up call for me, one I thought I would never need or experience in that way, and it’s all thanks to my senior English teacher.