We often think of a hero as a caped crusader or a super-human being, someone who comes to save the Earth from destruction time and time again. But we never stop to look at the true everyday heroes of our world.
Of course there are those who lay down their life for the safety of others such as soldiers, police officers and firemen, and while I appreciate their noble cause, a certain person came to my mind when I think of a super-human being. It is someone who has devoted their life to teaching others. It is someone who has guided me through the rough patches I had to endure.
This person has shown me the importance of going beyond one’s expectations to be the upmost successful, whom I believe deserves some special recognition for her efforts. Someone who I consider to be my super-human being. It is none other than my 11th grade AP English Language and Composition teacher, Mrs. Shaw.
To Mrs. Shaw,
Upon entering your class, I was completely petrified. I had heard rumors permeating the halls that you, as an AP teacher, were very intimidating and not a force to be reckoned with — as if I were not already apprehensive about this class. In the beginning of this class, I started with getting Cs on my essays and feeling discouraged. But those Cs transitioned to As, gaining me much satisfaction and success by the end of the year.
I just wanted to thank you for always threatening to ground me if I did not turn in my homework. Whether the threat was used for comic relief or not, I am unsure, but I was not willing to take the chance and find out. By doing this, you helped me realize the importance of doing work assigned by teachers, and how crucial time can be. Even in college now, I know your threats to ground me still ring true. I know better now than to disregard assignments given by teachers. They are people too. They deserve all my respect.
Perhaps one of the most compelling and inspiring instances that happened in your class was when we read "The Things We Carried" by Tim O'Brien. You asked the class to write an essay about the things that we carry in our lives and the effect it has on us, and read it out loud to the class. It was undoubtedly the most impactful epiphany that I had ever had in the context of writing. I believe the purpose of that assignment was that it is one thing just writing your story on paper, but it is a whole other world hearing it out loud. And I think that goes to further justify how much you desired to better prepare us for the world outside the class, to make sure we all tell our story beyond its limits and expectations.
I always hear people say that their teachers never cared enough. I had the opposite experience. You cared a lot. You went beyond the classroom expectations of what is supposed to be taught and took it a step further. You were dipping into your own pockets and your own time to bridge the gap for your students. You could have kept your lessons inside the classroom, but you instead took the initiative to save the helpless student — you soon crossed the threshold into the cycle of being the best teacher I ever hd
For Mrs. Shaw, teaching did not end when the ball rang. The way she would lose herself telling us the story of "The Great Gatsby," yelling, "Preach it!" as she brought "I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings" to life, and her lust for success is truly inspiring — so inspiring that she gave me the tools and the confidence to become a writer myself. She is like my own Mr. Feeney from "Boy Meets World" or my own Mr. Keating from "Dead Poets Society." She was always hungry to teach her students the wonders of the English language.
That, my readers, is something I cannot find enough words to ever thank her enough for, even with the plethora of vernacular she taught me.
Thank you Mrs. Shaw, for all that you do.
Love,
Your Brookie
