"Nama" by Brandon M

            First day of school, second period, nine o’clock. I entered room S-4 and saw her. Kids began filing in and sat down near their friends. Nine o’six, the bell rang. All of S-4 was dead silent. The only sound striking the ears of each individual was the stilling hum of the air conditioning vent. “Why are you here?” Everybody looked at each other, mildly confused. No response. She repeated, “Why are you here?” Some students simultaneously shouted, “Because we want to learn!” Once it was my turn to answer, fear had stricken every nerve of my body and I sputtered out “They put me in here by accident.” She gave me a cold, stone faced look. Ever since that day I never talked to her or ask questions about anything.

            Everyday I came into that classroom, my heart was pumping 200 times faster because I knew that she hated me. She didn’t want me in her classroom. Every time she would surprise us with an essay and I would get zeroes on every single one of due to my procrastination. I kept telling myself to study every morning and every night to make her proud so she can like me, but laziness got in the way.

            As the end of first semester was approaching, I had built up the guts to come to her after school and talk. I walked in and saw her in the corner of the room relaxing in her chair. She looked at me and said “Hello,” in her heavy-ish accent. I grabbed a chair and sat down right in front of her desk. I told her, “I know I’ve haven’t talked all semester, but I have a question for you.” She yelled, “Oh, so you can talk?!”, and we both started laughing. From that one day I began to feel a sense of comfort around her.

            Once second semester started, I ran into her classroom and shouted out “Good morning!” Ever since I talked to her I began to see her true personality, which made me realize that my mindset during first semester was all wrong. She didn’t hate me; she wanted me in her classroom, she cared about all of her students, she wanted us to treasure our knowledge. She wasn’t just a teacher, but she was a mentor guiding us in the right directions of our life. As the school year ended she and I were like best friends because I was able to talk about anything with her and she would help me with all of my life problems. She even let me her fancy car! You can say that she is my favorite teacher.

            Then the new school year began, I saw the new students walk into her classroom and it reminded me of myself when I first walked into that classroom. I told them that there’s nothing to be scared of because she is one of the best teachers you will ever have and that you will learn many valuable lessons that you will treasure forever. AP Bio with her is a once in a lifetime chance.