I know today the phrase "teachers are underpaid" is a common fact but in my high school I know two teachers who that make that phrase an understatement. My senior year, a year anticipated by many, a year that is so busy and packed with so many different things flying at you day after day, was the year that I realized what it meant to be a teacher. After everything you've given me, all I can give you back is a thank you.
I've had many teachers throughout my years of learning coming across the good ones, the old ones, the dreadful ones and even the ones who really didn't seem to care whether you passed or failed, but two really stood out to me. My senior math teacher and my senior government teacher. These two women were and will always be my two most outstanding teachers.
Ms.McLaughlin, who by now is married and has changed her name, was there every day I needed her She didn't know me, I didn't know her, but she opened her classroom up to me whenever I needed it. She must've done everything possible to make sure I learned the lessons every week because somehow I grasped it, maybe not when I took the test, but eventually I knew the materials. I could've received a 26 on a test and she'd still tell me I had a chance. Even when I was fed up, and trust me those days came more often than not, she always reassured me I was doing fine.
What I could never thank her enough for was always believing in me, even if my friends were laughing at my test grades, or when I got the questions wrong during a lesson, she never showed anything less than hope for me. She never made me believe I could get an A so instead I would shoot for a B and that helped me more than I'd ever imagine. For everything she gave me, from extra after school time, to extra make ups on exams I didn't do so well on, I could never thank her enough.
Mrs. Connor. There's an endless amount of compliments or thank yous' I could give out to her but none would do her justice. When we talk about teachers being under appreciated that is the text book definition of Mrs. Connor. You could've been failing every subject in high school and this teacher would still sit down with you any chance she had to teach you the material herself. She was more than a teacher to many of us, she's more than someone we saw for 45 minutes of the day, Mrs. Connor was someone anybody could talk to, someone who would be there for you whenever she was needed.
There's many more things I could say but I think to anybody who meets them it's evident how important a role they continue to play in their everyday lives. Without them I wouldn't be who I am today, without them I wouldn't of known what it felt like to be truly inspired. So thank you, thank you for everything you've given to me in my many journeys to come. Despite what you may feel or what you could possibly be told you are both two of the greatest teachers to ever step foot into our high school, and for that everyone who ever steps foot through your classroom doors should be grateful.
