I’ve always wondered where I would be and how my life would be different if I hadn’t met and built relationships with certain people. For most of the cases, I can’t imagine where I would be or how different my life would be had I not met the people. When pondering this, I realized how important teachers are to their students. What if you never had that English teacher who made you become a writer? What if you never had that music teacher who pushed you to your limits, simply because they knew you had it in you? In my case, I often think where I would be without my 9th-grade biology teacher Mr. Woods.

First, a little background on Mr. Woods. He is one of the best teachers I had throughout high school simply because he made a subject I was not previously interested in a lot of fun. He made it entertaining and enjoyable to sit through almost an hour and a half of biology, which under most circumstances would be dreadful to me. He even made answering a question fun with his emphatic "attaboy!" The best analogy I can use is comparing him to MLB player Bryce Harper. Harper is known for wanting to make baseball fun again and has essentially made it his campaign, Mr. Woods could just as easily lead the “Make Learning Fun Again” campaign. I enjoyed his class so much, I tried to make sure I got good grades in all my science classes so I could take his AP class senior year. Unfortunately that didn’t happen.

Another thing important to know about Mr. Woods is that he is also Coach Woods. I wrote previously about how one of my baseball seasons we wanted to win for our coach, well that coach was Coach Woods. He was a beloved part of our team and if I had the chance to have him as a coach again, I would jump at the opportunity. He was sometimes even more into the game than some of the players were. Because of the time and success he and Coach Morris, the head coach, had together, there is now a sign on the fence above the third base dugout honoring the duo.

Mr. Woods was more than a teacher and a coach to me, though. He was the teacher that helped me get through the difficult times of High School. Coming into High School as a 9th grader with no real direction. His guidance served as a starting point for me to find where I wanted to go as a student and person.

When 10th grade came around, I wasn’t taking his biology class anymore, but I was still involved with the baseball team. Coach Woods was still my go-to teacher when I needed help, and. I even started going to the club he was the advisor of so I would not miss out on having him as a mentor of sorts. The club promoted school spirit through sports, a great way for a sports nut like me to get involved in the other school sports. Thursday mornings I was up early and in his classroom for club meetings and bagels (the second best part about the club).

In 11th grade, being around him during baseball season was somewhat bittersweet, knowing it was his final season coaching. The team started a hashtag on Twitter, “#WinForWoods,” which was something we rallied around. After we were eliminated in the playoffs, a teammate of mine took the second place plaque and gave it to Coach Woods, saying, “This belongs to you.”

I asked former students and players of his to describe him, and the response was exactly what I expected. One former student said, “Insane” followed by “in all the best ways. I honestly loved his class.” Another former student told me, “He’s the man.” Another word that came up was “hilarious,” followed by “one of the funniest people I’ve ever met.” I couldn’t agree more. He has a habit of causing a smile, even when you are not in a great mood. I also asked one that was a former student, player and club member for one word to describe Mr. Woods, to which he replied, “That's a tough one. Genuine comes to mind.” When I told him that everyone else found it tough to put everything into one word, I got a response that perfectly captured everything Mr. Woods is about. “He's an interesting guy, he genuinely wants to teach you whether it’s in the classroom, on the field, or just in life. And he has his own way of doing it.” In my opinion, nothing has ever been clearer than this, Mr. Woods is beloved by all. I have never met a person who didn’t like him either as a teacher, coach, or person. There is nobody like Mr. Woods, he is truly a special person and I am grateful to have been taught and mentored by him.