Michael "The Brew Crew" Brewer by Omayma

Michael "The Brew Crew" Brewer by Omayma - June 2021 Scholarship Essay

Mr. Brewer was a man who I wasn’t necessarily fond of back in September. He taught quite an intimidating class: AP U.S. History 2. I cringed and rolled my eyes everytime he said the words “Imperialism” or “Reconstruction”. Luckily I was never reprimanded, as I hid behind my computer screen back when school was virtual. The class itself frightened me. I felt as if I was the weakest link, the dumbest girl in the room, or Google Meet I should say. While my friends were complaining about the B’s they were getting on his essays, I was figuring out how I was going to bring my “F” grade up. Come December, my grandfather was fatally ill in the hospital. The day before Christmas break was our “Great Depression” test. I had my mother email the intimidating Mr. Brewer to inform him of what was going on, and to tell him I would not be able to take the exam. In those solemn hours before my grandfather passed away, while doing a lot of praying and crying, I was constantly thinking of when I would have to take this APUSH test. Two days after my mother emailed Mr. Brewer, my grandfather passed away. I went back to school after winter break heartbroken, and expected Mr. Brewer to approach me about when I would make up the test I missed. To my surprise, when I went to check my grades, I found that Mr. Brewer not only excused me from assignments I missed, but he exempted me from the test I was dreading. Until this day, I am unsure of how he found out about my grandfather's passing, but he did, and he presented his condolences through this small, but meaningful act of kindness.

About a month later, we had another test in APUSH, this time it was on “The New Deal”. I was determined to do well on this test. I revised my studying and note taking habits, and I was confident in my knowledge of the information we had been learning. This test consisted of one question: a menacing DBQ (Document Based Question). All we had to do was cite 6 documents provided to us in an essay that answered a question that Mr. Brewer would provide. I spent all of my free time studying content, and I wrote multiple practice DBQs before the test. When the big day came, I read the question we had to answer, and I froze. I tried so hard to come up with something to write, but I was simply dumbstruck. In the last 5 minutes of class, I went on the Google Meet call that was open to students who had questions for Mr. Brewer as they wrote. I was having a panic attack, tears coming out of my eyes, boogers coming out of my nose, and I was nearly ripping my hair out. With my camera and microphone off, I was typing my situation into the chat feature. Mr. Brewer was confused as to why I silently came onto the call, and continued to call my name as I typed.

I was hesitant about whether I should send him the message I had typed, which looked something like this: “i am freaking out. i don’t know what to write. i promise i studied for this. my document is blank. i am so scared and i am panicking and i don't know what to do”. By the look of his face, he seemed stunned, as this probably was not what he was expecting. He responded to me silently in the chat, and we had some back and forth until he finally spoke and told me to turn on my microphone and camera, and to talk to him. Mr. Brewer comforted me through this panic attack through kind words as I cried and made weird noises. I continuously walked away from the camera in frustration and everytime he would say something along the lines of “Come back I’m not finished”. He confirmed that this test is not the most important thing in the world, and that he was determined to help me get the grade that I desire. I will never forget when he said “I promise you that I am going to help you get through this, and I am not one to break promises.”

Remember when I said that I was not fond of Mr. Brewer? Well I take that statement back. At this point in the year, I have developed a friendly relationship with the “Brew Crew”. He has become someone who I can wholeheartedly trust and rely on, and someone I look forward to seeing everyday. I have said this a million times and I will say it again: He has taught me so much more than what the APUSH curriculum entails. Under his influence I have learned what it means to have strong integrity, good judgement, a genuine personality, and what it means to be a good man, teacher, and human being. All of the “Brew Crew”’s other students will confidently attest to this, and to the fact that Michael “The Brew Crew” Brewer is indeed the most influential teacher we have ever had, and ever will have.