I remember the first time I walked past her classroom; her voice carried clear down to the end of the hallway, and boy was she loud, extremely loud for how small she appeared. She was wearing a brown tennis skirt with a white t-shirt. I was a tiny freshman and she scared me to my core, so much that I hoped I would never have to have a class with her. However, my sophomore year, this nightmare became reality. I found myself wondering into room 208, only to realize it was the teacher I hoped I would never have.

She handed out her syllabus and began reviewing her rules and I began to realize just how much I was wrong. She allowed us to have phones out in class and we were able to bring food into her class and use her microwave to heat up such food. That stuff never happened in high school. But it was more than that; she cared.

I began to get to know her more and more. I opened up about my parents' divorce and how I was walking to school every day. This began a friendship when I needed it most, and one I know I will have for a lifetime. She gave me her cell phone number and said to text her my address and she would pick me up and bring to and from school. We soon discovered she lived right down the street from my dad’s new apartment, which made the whole pick-up thing even easier when I was staying with him. Sometimes she would bring me breakfast and other days we would go out for lunch. She became a second mom to me. We exchanged Christmas and birthday gifts. I was in every class of her’s that I could be all the way through my senior year, and when the time came, she requested to read my name at graduation, and that meant the world to me.

I didn’t think I was ready to graduate. I was not yet ready to leave the protective walls of room 208 and the safety it had brought to me. I knew she wasn’t going anywhere, and she would always be the one I would confide in, but graduation meant it was time to step up and try the whole adulting thing on my own.

She and I still go out to lunch and I go and visit whenever I get the chance. She likes my husband and knows how good he is to and for me. In a way, she is my guardian angel here on Earth.

Angi Verstraete, you made the biggest difference in my life. I don’t believe I would have made it through high school had you not taken me in under your wing. I am lucky you took the time to “see the diamond underneath and polished me until I shined,” But it wasn’t just me, it was anyone you saw who needed a helping hand. Sometimes, it was the simple act of buying them the binder or notebook they needed for school or letting them eat lunch in your room when they had too much anxiety to eat in the cafeteria full of people. You deserve so much more than I can give you. I will always be thankful for you. Although I still can’t call you Angi; Mrs. V, you will always hold a special place in my heart.

"Kid, you'll move mountains."- Dr. Seuss