Science was always one of my favorite subjects in school, but it never challenged me the way that my Biology teacher Mr. Gibson challenged me. His class was in the morning (so that could be why it was a challenge), but more importantly, his class made you think. It really got down to the exact reasoning behind everything.

I sat in my bio class one morning and waited for the announcements to be over with so that we could start on notes. We were learning something new like every week it seemed and we were because it was IB Biology, but what we were learning that day was something new and particularly challenging. It thinks it was on photosynthesis, energy conversion like ATP and the Kreb’s Cycle, and I was not understanding it at all. I went back and read the textbook, I re-read my notes. I tried to make sense of it on my own and was having the worst time possible.

So, the following week I went to Mr. Gibson to ask his help on the subject matter. I didn’t like doing it, going to a teacher for help. Yes, I know they’re there to help, but it’s a matter of pride. Everything else came so easy to me, except for this. I didn’t like that I was struggling and that I needed help, I almost considered not going to him, but I swallowed my pride and went to talk to him about not being able to understand it.

We sat down and he worked the process out for me explaining each step in detail to me, I still didn’t get it and told him so. It took me forever to understand it, but I finally got it after sitting down with him a couple of times and having him explain the process to me and looking at it from a different perspective.

I still have the paper he gave me detailing the math and the process in chart form. When I wanted to give up, he continued to push and believed that I would understand the material before the test. So, thank you, Mr. Gibson, for making Biology a challenging concept. You did tell us once that if it wasn’t challenging then you weren’t doing your job.

A thank you is in order for you and me never really got to say it to you, but I am now...thank you. Thank you for believing in me and not giving up on me when I gave up on myself. If it weren’t for you I wouldn’t have pushed myself, constantly wanting your approval. I promise as a thank you to you, I will do you proud in the days and years ahead at school.

Begin with thank you when you walk in the door to a classroom, your house, anywhere. They are two of the most powerful words in the human language...in any language honestly.

Thank the men and women who have given up their time and took the time to go to college and get a degree in teaching because without them they wouldn’t be here and I highly doubt that you would be there.

There is always a teacher or professor that believes in you and wants to see you succeed. They will push you to your breaking point and then be there to help you backup because there has to be a low point where they can start at to cultivate on you, your gifts and your talents. I’m sure that without this educator that where you are in your life currently, would not be possible without the love and support they bestowed upon you in school. I’m sure that even for some they’re what made you change your major too.

So, to those people when you next see them, maybe during fall break if you’re going home or during next class says “Thank you.” to them for putting up with all of your asinine questions and complaints about the workload in the class because without them you wouldn’t be where you are today. All it takes is one person.

For some of us that one person was our champion and we could go to them when we had trouble or problems. They gave us an ear to chew off and were the voice of reason when we didn’t know what to do. Sometimes they were even our parents when our parents weren’t there to help. Through it all, we came to rely on them and occasionally they saw us as their charges and thought of us as one of their own in a way. I’m sure for each of us there is that one teacher that thought of us as their child and wanted to see us succeed.

So know this, a teacher pushing you to succeed is only because they believe in you. By the time you walk away from the class they want you to have an appreciation for the class and they want it to be a challenge for you because they want to take something away from the lesson. If it not a challenge then it is not a success and you haven't mastered the material