Alex KoniecznyJanuary 21, 2002A Wise FriendWhenever someone asks me what helped influence me to become a teacher the first thing I tell the is ” a wise friend. ” This friend was my tenth grade history teacher, Coach Carroll. I had always been very smart, but was board with school and tended not to always apply myself because of my lack of interest. Most teachers acted negatively towards me when I didn’t put forth the effort that I should and very easily could have. Some went as far to tell me that “I shouldn’t even apply to college” or “That college would be a waste of my parents money.
” But then there was Coach Carroll. One day he told me a story of a boy, that all he wanted to do was play football. He didn’t care about his classes, he just did well enough to pass so he could play ball. As the story went on I realized that this boy he was speaking of was himself.
I would have never imaged one of the best teachers I had ever had to be uninterested in school when they were young. That day he told me that the best teachers were some times the worst students. I know when he told me that I must have made a really weird face cause I remember him laughing at me. He told me that I understood what it was like to come to class and be board, or to struggle with certain tasks, and much it hurts when teachers don’t encourage you, but in turn put you down.
He said, that because I understood these things first hand, I would be able to offer a more pleasant environment for a wide range of students, verses only being able to connect with the very serious students. For the next two years of high school I did a lot of soul searching, and worked on becoming a better student. Every time I would see Coach Carroll he would say things like, “Hello Miss Konieczny, Did we have homework last night?” This was my little reminder that I had the personality and the drive to do a good job at something. . . teaching.
I will never forget at Senior awards night when they announced that I would be attending Texas Wesleyan University on a partial scholarship and seeking a degree in Education. I think Coach Carroll cheered for me more than my own family. I learned how powerful it is to have a teacher believe in you so much, long after you have left their classroom. I hope that one day someone can say the same about me, that I inspired them to achieve their dreams and to make them a reality as Coach Carroll did for me.
