Throughout my education thus far, I have had teachers that made me want to pull my hair out because of their ineffective teaching, teachers who have made me cry myself to sleep due to the insane workload they placed upon me, teachers who have made me dread and hate school. I have had teachers who definitely should not be teachers, either because they were completely incapable of teaching effectively, or because they weren't as supportive and sympathetic and caring as teachers should be. I have had some pretty terrible teachers.

And yet, I've also had some incredible teachers. I have had teachers who have gone above and beyond for their students. I have had teachers who have fully understood that their students have lives and struggles outside of school and are sensitive to those struggles, doing as much as they could not to cause their students unnecessary stress. I have had teachers who were simply great educators, great leaders, and most importantly, great people. I have had teachers who have inspired me both in the classroom and in life. And I would like to thank those teachers.

I have always been the type of person who loves to learn; I crave knowledge. However, I hated high school. I detested it. High school was a cage of cement blocks that left me void of the motivation or desire to continue to learn. There were too many teachers who were not educators, who talked but did not teach, who were as uninspired in their work as I was. Those were the teachers who made me hate high school, who made me dread the sound of my alarm on weekday mornings, who inspired me to rush out of their class when the bell rang, rather than inspire me to care about the material they taught.

However, every semester I had at least one teacher who made the rest of my classes worth the effort. I was lucky enough to have a few great teachers who cared about me and inspired me to care about the material they presented, who loved to teach and made me love to be taught. At times, these were teachers who perhaps taught a subject outside of my typical field of interest. While I am an English major who has always loved words, I have always struggled with anything in the STEM field. And yet, one year I had a wonderful chemistry teacher who taught so well that I received my first — and only — A in a science class. Any teacher can be inspiring and influential to their students, if only they themselves are inspired to be influential.

I thank the teachers who have inspired me to do my best, who have inspired me to walk the path I'm on, who have inspired me to love learning. I thank the teachers who have inspired me not to rush out of their class when the bell rings, but to stay and linger in their classroom because it is a place that makes high school bearable.

This isn't just for the high school teachers who may have inspired me, but also the professors in college who continue to.