On August 31, 2011, I walked into one of my first classes in high school. It was on the fourth floor in a stifling hot classroom even though it was only 7:45 in the morning. Despite the nerves of starting high school, the heat and the early morning, I was excited for this class. It was geography and cultures with Mr. Boezeman. I had been a social studies nerd all throughout middle school, so this seemed like it would be easy territory for me, but little did I know what I would be facing when I walked through the door. Shaking my hand was a man with the biggest smile I’d ever seen and hair that looked kind of like Thor’s. It was one of the most memorable first impressions in my life and even though I didn’t know it in that moment, it was also one of the most important.

Everyone has that teacher who changed the track of their life. Maybe it was in middle school, high school, college or even outside of school. For me this teacher was Mr. Boezeman. Throughout my time in high school, he pointed me in the right direction so many ways, even if some of them were not obvious at the time. For example, in my first year of high school, I realized that one of my biggest challenges was completing homework on time. I never wanted to write the papers or do the readings and Mr. Boezeman took notice. Although he worked with me to get better at it, he also gave me the grades I deserved. I got a 68 in the first semester of geography. It remains to this day the lowest grade on my transcript, but it was also the most meaningful. Most of my teachers would go easy on me because my tests were OK or give me a last minute extra credit project. But even though this made my grades look good, I never learned that I couldn't continue working that way. Mr. Boezeman, however, wasn’t going to let me get away with things I knew I shouldn’t have done, and looking back on that grade motivates me to do the great work that he knew I could do.

Two years later in the same classroom with the same oppressive heat, I walked into my first sociology class. I had heard a brief overview of sociology, but I didn’t know what to expect. This time entering the classroom, I saw the chairs and desks overturned, with our teacher nowhere to be found. It took the class about five minutes to figure out what we were supposed be doing, when Mr. Boezeman entered the room to explain what was going on, but with sociology. In that moment I was hooked; I knew I wanted to learn about sociology for the rest of my life. This was the first of so many interactive and exciting learning experiences that made class with Mr. Boezeman unlike any other. He taught me more than just geography and sociology. He taught me how to love learning and how to share that with others. The way he taught got every student excited, even if it wasn’t their best subject. When I go into my classes at Colby-Sawyer College (particularly the 8 a.m. ones), I remember Mr. Boezeman’s excitement for teaching and sharing knowledge.

I never really said thank you to Mr. Boezeman for the ways that he impacted my school career, and he might not even remember those things. For him, it may have been another day in the classroom or another student who needed an extra push, but for me, it changed who I am and where I am today. I know there were so many other people whose lives have been so positively impacted by him, and I wonder if anyone has every truly thanked him for it.

So thank you Mr. Boezeman, for showing me that I can do great things and inspiring me to learn with excitement every day.