You know your first day of class you walk into a certain teacher's classroom and you remember all of the stories you've heard about them? Some of them good and others not so good, some funny, and others are filled with fear. This is the class you have either been dreading or anxiously awaiting. It is the subject you love most or absolutely hate, but it isn't the subject you care about it is the person teaching it. You either fall in love with this teacher as soon as they open their mouth, or you instantly hate that person. Thankfully, if it is the latter you have an entire semester or year for that person to change your life. You have all of that time for them to impact you in some way.

In the 8th grade I decided what I wanted to do with my life. I knew that was what I wanted and I knew I would do anything to make that dream come true. I had people tell me it would never happen and people tell me I was more than capable of making it happen. It was a big and fancy goal, but I wanted it. I wanted to impact the world around me and the world I had never seen. I wanted to help people and love people. I wanted to make money so that I could travel and help people from all walks of life, and that is still what I want to do but the amount of money I make doesn't really matter to me, and that's all because of one teacher. One person took my dream of going to medical school and threw it out the window. Their passion for teaching became my passion for wanting to teach. That dream I had back in 8th grade will become a reality, but not in the same way I thought it would. I will still do exactly what I have always wanted just in a completely different way and in a completely different setting. That one teacher changed everything and for that I am eternally grateful. Since that one person cared so much about the people he was teaching I was able to see that even though my dream was good and I was perfectly capable of making it come true, there was no need for me to. He helped me realize that there is more to life than the amount of money you make or the places you travel to. You can impact twice as many people teaching them than you can meeting with them one on one. All because of one teacher, I have learned more about myself and my talents.

We all have that teacher - that one teacher that made you love a subject so much you want that to be your career, or you want to teach it. They made you want to help other people love it just as much as they did for you. You see the passion they have when they teach you and all those stories you heard about them become distant memories. Those are the types of teachers we want filling our schools and universities. The teachers who don't just teach a subject but they teach life lessons. The teachers you want teaching make such an impact on your life that it actually sticks longer than just through the next class or long enough for you to share it on social media. Here is the truth, everyone needs that teacher. Everyone needs someone to change their perspective or mindset and help them realize that they are able to do amazing things, because that just isn't something we can do on our own.