Stern but Sweet

Stern but sweet   

By: Hailey Allen

It all started in August 2015, my freshmen year of high school.

It was the first day of Earth Science class in a whole new environment.

I had never been in a private school before let alone know anyone at my new school.

The first thing I saw when walking in was that all the desks were facing the front -- not a single one out of place -- like the military lining up for roll call.

 I looked over and saw my teacher; his name was Mr. Perry

I was trembling and super nervous like a little kid not wanting to walk through a scary hunted house.

My palms were sweating like a hot summer day in July.

My heart was beating as fast as a roller coaster that drops down from the top.

He was really loud like a lion in a zoo; his voice sounded like there were 10 people repeating the same thing at once.

He would always refer to his students by first last names and never first. Shouts Allen!

I sat in the front row, the first seat behind where he sat as he pressed his little clicker button to move the slideshow forwards or backward.

He would always randomly call on us rather we were paying attention or not, but it was super hard to not pay attention in his class as it seemed like he was a hawk waiting to catch his pray or someone who had eyes in the back of his head.

He was quick to catch us like a car racing on a track.

My leg would always shake from being so nervous; it felt like the floor would give out any second.

The number one thing we always had to remember over a pencil was a red pen! It was a key piece that we needed like when needing a book for our next class. We could not forget it!

He introduced us to these scary things called brain flexes which definitely made my brain flex!

Everything had to be a certain way or we got points taken off. It was more stressful and scary than a family trying to get Christmas presents one day before Christmas!

If you yawned and didn’t cover your mouth you had to stand up on your chair and yawn while you cover your mouth 10 times! So you better make sure you closed your mouth!

my perspective changed drastically within the whole year of having Earth Science.

I grew confidence I never thought I had and learned how to not care what other’s opinions are of me.

He helped inspire me to be confident and to know that I can do anything I put my mind to in life!

I began to improve my time management skills also improved my writing immensely!

He taught me the true value that not a single question is dumb rather the questions you never ask become dumb.

He unleashed a spark in me that helped shaped me into the person I am today and without freshman year Earth Science class I don’t think I would be half the person I am today without his stern ways and constant courage and understanding to teach me in the area’s I was missing in.  

So thank you, Mr. Perry, for all the late night studying and scary brain flexes and constant remembrance of a red pen!

 I found this page through Power.poetry.org