Teaching Me Joy: How being a Teacher's Pet Changed My Life by Sarah

Teaching Me Joy: How being a Teacher's Pet Changed My Life by Sarah - July 2016 Scholarship Essay

Okay, I’ll admit it. I’m a teacher’s pet. I always have been, and I probably always will be. And even though it annoys my little sister and a lot of my classmates to no end, I honestly don’t regret trying so hard to be friends with my teachers in high school, because that’s where I learned some of my most valuable life lessons. You can learn a lot more than just math or English from teachers if you’re willing to sit down and listen.
Not only was I a teacher’s pet in high school, but I was also kind of a nerd. And not your run-of-the-mill science geek or bookworm either (although I do really love reading). I was a newspaper nerd. I joined the school newspaper staff my sophomore year, and after that, I was hooked. I lived and breathed tracking down the tough stories and designing pages in a way that made the best ones stand out. I spent almost all of my free periods in the newsroom researching and messing with design software, or setting up interviews with various members of the community. And through all of those hours and hours spent in the newsroom, I quickly developed a strong friendship with our newspaper teacher, Mrs. Hurley.
Flash forward two years to my senior year of high school, and Mrs. Hurley selected me as the editor-in-chief of our paper. This meant more hours in the newsroom after school and more meetings in Mrs. Hurley’s office, but I didn’t mind—I was doing what I loved. And then disaster struck. Or what my fragile, high school self esteem perceived as disaster. My first “real” boyfriend of eight months dumped me, and to make it worse, he was also on staff. That meant I still had to see him everyday, and somehow manage to lead the staff without going to pieces in front of them. And while I tried to get up in front of the class and delegate the paper’s various tasks with a smile on my face, I quickly let my emotions get the best of me, and was soon spending most of the newspaper classes hiding in my “office” in the corner of the room, rather than checking in with my reporters and laughing with my friends, as I had always done in newspaper. Newspaper was no longer a place where I felt happy and “in my element,” but a place where I felt alone and unbearably uncomfortable.
Mrs. Hurley, of course, noticed something was wrong, and after a few days of me moping around, she sat me down at her desk and let me tell her the whole story. After listening sympathetically, she very kindly asked me “Why do you care so much? And why are you letting him destroy your happy place? You’ve worked really hard over the past three years to build yourself a home in this room, and you can’t let something as silly as that boy take it away from you. Don’t let him steal your joy.”
That thought really hit me. Newspaper was my home, and I shouldn’t let anyone else, not even someone I had really cared about, taint that. After all, my ex boyfriend had only joined staff first semester of our senior year so that we could have a class together, so why was I letting him enjoy it more than I was just because I was hurt and uncomfortable?
Hurley’s words really instilled a new sense of self-confidence in me. I took ownership of newspaper again, and my worries and feelings of discomfort related to my ex quickly faded into the back corner of my brain. This new sentiment also changed my outlook on life. I walked around school with my head held high, ready to enjoy every last moment of high school. I joined the Life 101 senior seminar that I had really been looking forward to, despite the fact that my ex had joined it as well, and I really loved it. Even when our youth group mission trip rolled around, and my ex still signed up, I didn’t let my discomfort ruin the trip for me. I threw myself into all of the activities, learned a lot about God and myself, and was even able to forgive my ex and move on. I didn’t let him steal my joy, and grew more as a person because of it.
Going into college, I didn’t lose the new outlook on life that Mrs. Hurley had given me. I didn’t let my friends determine whether I should go to certain events or not, and even though it was uncomfortable, ended up going to some games and meetings alone because of it. I had a blast exploring and learning new things for myself, and experienced more joy than I could have ever imagined. I met so many people and invested myself into many new groups and service projects, and discovered new passions because of it. Because of my friendship with Mrs. Hurley, I developed a new zest for life that continues to lead me to exciting new opportunities and experiences every day. So, you see, it’s not always so bad to be the teacher’s pet. In fact, it might just change your life.