More than a Teacher

A great teacher teaches you more than just the basics in math or English or history. A great teacher inspires you to reach beyond your grasp and aspire to be a better person. A great teacher will go out of their way to make sure that you feel able and valued, no matter how many students they have in their class or how many years they’ve been teaching. You can tell a great teacher by the number of students gathered around their desk throughout the day; they’re the ones still there an hour after school has let out, simply because so many students are waiting.

My great teacher was my 4^th year English teacher, Mr. Sanchez. It’s hard to explain what it was about Mr. Sanchez that made him the best teacher in a school of dozens. He certainly wasn’t the easiest – he challenged each and every student to attempt what they thought was impossible, and he never let the ‘smart’ kids’ coast by on their good reputations. Maybe it was his easy way with every kid, regardless of whom they were or where they came from. Maybe it was the way he made everything seem a little more interesting than it probably was. I think it was the whole package: he was the type of teacher who made you care about him and what you were learning.

Mr. Sanchez made a difference in my life because he went out of his way to understand someone who was different. My school wasn’t exceptionally large, but there were certainly enough students to get lost in the crowd. My problem was, it was impossible for me to get lost in that crowd because, early in my life, my teachers found out that I was one of those ‘smart’ kids. Things naturally came easy to me, and I was often called upon to help my classmates when they were having trouble. I was visibly different from all the other kids, and it made a real impact on the way I felt about myself, all the way through school.

Mr. Sanchez acknowledged the fact that I caught onto things easily and he knew that I could get bored with what was going on. He was the first teacher I had who looked past my intelligence to think about me as a person.

I know that Mr. Sanchez touched the lives of hundreds of students. There will, of course, be some who remember him a little more than others because of the special things he did for those who needed it. I know that, for me, my time in Mr. Sanchez’s class changed my life and he’s a big part of the reason with whom and what I am now. He taught me to embrace the way my mind works, and showed me that being different isn’t really a bad thing.