"Mr. C" by Venessa

"Mr. C" by Venessa - July 2014 Scholarship Essay

I remember hating to write. For years throughout elementary grades, I was taught that writing was important. Writing was involved. Writing would follow us through school, it would help us day to day, it would help us to get careers as journalists, as doctors, or even as video game programmers. Nearly every assignment I remember being assigned was writing. Write about this. Write your thoughts on that. Write a response to the following question...it was all so frustrating to me until I had my first fifth grade writing assignment given to me by Mr. Cummings.

“Mr. C” was everyone’s favorite teacher. He didn’t just teach us or assign us work. He engaged us. I remember him assigning us homework, telling us all that it would be a writing assignment but that we would be free to write whatever we chose to write about. At first, this irritated me more than past assignments had. How was I supposed to write about anything without being told what to write about?

Once my pencil hit the paper though, ideas came freely and without restraint. I remember having a handful of those writing assignments and I remember getting to read what I wrote in front of the class for each of those assignments as Mr. Cummings and my fellow classmates listened intently, captured by my words, my stories. Mr. Cummings encouraged me to keep writing, both in and outside the classroom and even years after leaving to go onto other schools, he would read what I wrote.

Today, I still hold a love of writing that I never had before meeting “Mr. C” and I still write stories. I also understand how important writing really is and am glad to have learned from my interest and utilize what I’ve gained in continuing school in the hopes of attaining a desirable career. It’s been many years now since I last had the chance to speak with Mr. Cummings but I still think of him often when I write and wonder if he ever could have guessed just how positively he had affected my attitude toward education.