--that makes two. Two of my high school teachers have passed away in the last year.

The first to go was my honors biology teacher from high school, Mr. Dozier. He nominated me as the biology student of the year (which I ended up winning). He was a little strange, a bit of an oddball, and some people didn't like him for that reason. But he was always a nice guy. He used to walk around saying stuff like, "This bald spot is not actually a bald spot; it's a solar panel for my sex machine." Or teaching us that the way to remember the hierarchy in biological taxonomy is to remember that "Kinky people come over for great sex." (Hey, it works so much better than that "King Philip" crap!) He was probably the first teacher to tell me that I belonged in the sciences.

And today, I just found out that my debate coach/AP Spanish teacher, Mr. Garcia, died after a long battle with pneumonia. He left my high school after I graduated to become the principal of a high school in his hometown of Arvin, CA, right outside of Bakersfield. He was such an awesome teacher and person in general. At graduation, as head of the foreign language department, he presented me with the senior foreign language achievement award for my work in his Spanish class. He was a shameless polyglot--something I aspire to be--and in class one time, he told someone to choose a language (from English, Spanish, French, Italian, and German) for him to switch into while he was talking. So we watched him switch between each of these languages as he told us some story about his weekend. He then stood up and said, "Can any of you do that?" No one raised their hands. He came over to me and said, "Bullshit. You can do it. Come on--it's just Spanish and English." So he made me do it in front of the class, which was a little nerve-wracking, but it taught me to trust in my own abilities--a lesson that I had temporarily forgotten throughout college, but am starting to relearn.

The thing that I learned from both of them: do what you love. They were never paid well, but they loved their jobs and you could tell. As I grow older and am exposed to the harsher realities of life, I sometimes forget that I got interested in science because it was something I loved, not something that I thought would make me a billionaire.

Some people go throughout high school without meeting a single teacher that would help to shape them so concretely as these two have shaped me. I count myself extremely lucky to have met and learned from the both of them, and I hope that one day, if I ever have to teach a class, I can act in the same capacity for my students as Mr. Dozier and Mr. Garcia have done for me.

Sheesh, you are getting old if your teachers are keeling over.

Don't break your hip!

Somedays I contemplate taking up teaching, just because I've heard so many stories of teachers teaching because they want to work with children or something stupid, and are awful at their subject. :(
» ikimashokie on 2008-06-16 06:43:51

awww... don't be sad. they'll live on in your heart!
» Nuttz on 2008-06-16 11:24:15

Yep. Decent, entry level jobs don't exist it seems.

And I don't know what second comment you're talking about...
» Chloefoxx on 2008-06-19 06:32:26

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