English has always been my strong suit. It’s something that came naturally to me, and something I didn’t push myself in because I didn’t have to. But that attitude held me back, and that’s where Mrs. Grendahl came in.

Mrs. Grendahl is a woman who has a passion for her subject, and a passion for her students. She nominated me to a selective writing competition at the Art Museum. She pushed me to break boundaries and join the school play. Mrs. Grendahl believed in me.

Through Mrs. Grendahl, I was nominated to Arrowhead’s Honor English program. I remember being thrilled. To be accepted, students had to pass a timed essay test.

The day of the test came and I wandered into the expansive building of Arrowhead’s south campus, finding my way to the computer lab to settle down and take the test. After about an hour, I had it written and was on my way, confident I had passed and would be let in. Time passed and I excitedly awaited my results.
They came—and I failed.
Whatever. I shrugged it off. The program was for snobs anyway. Who would want to be in program like that? Not me, that’s for sure. But, Mrs. Grendahl didn’t have any of that. Her belief didn’t end there; she had other plans.
There I was, cranking out an appeal letter, while she typed a letter of her own. It was deadline day for the appeals, and we both rushed to get them finished. She completed her letter and asked me to proofread. Reading it, I was stunned.
In her thirty years of teaching, that being her last before retirement, she had never before sent a letter to reconsider a student. I was the first and only student she had made that exception for. It was astounding. Mrs. Grendahl had so much confidence in me. She didn’t give up on me...even when I already had given up on myself. A teacher had never done something like this for me before. We put the the letters together to send them to Arrowhead.
“If this doesn’t get you in, I’ll have to go up there with a bazooka,” she said, laughing.
After a few weeks, notification came that I had been reconsidered and accepted into the Honors Program.
Mrs. Grendahl, who was the theater director, also pushed me to be in the annual school play. This was something I had never done and never planned on doing. I mean, being in a play is not cool. In the vortex of awkward and adolescence that is middle school, this would just be a wrench in the already shaky machine of the pre-teen years.
People would judge me and laugh at me, I convinced myself. In fact, this was probably the least cool thing I could do. I wanted nothing less than to be in the play. But none of that mattered. Mrs. Grendahl wanted me in it.
So, naturally, I ended up in it.
Being in the school play was one of the best experiences of my educational career. My previously cemented thoughts of embarrassment and ridicule were blown away. People respected me, and went to the show. I actually got many compliments on my performance.
I won’t lie, it was an experience I went in dreading. I had to sing and dance on stage, and I did not sing and dance...ever. But I left that play with so much confidence in myself, and with a new attitude for new encounters.
Mrs. Grendahl wasn’t an in-your-face type of teacher. She led from behind, and let students empower themselves. She pushed her students from their comfort zones. Through my experiences with Mrs. Grendahl, I developed as a person, and my character matured. With her guidance, I shattered the walls of my expectations. Her belief in me transformed into a belief in myself. That’s something that can’t be taught from a book, or by sitting in the back of a classroom.
Great learning comes from an involved and inspiring teacher. Mrs. Grendahl is a teacher that is both and more. Because of her, I excelled in the honors program. Because of her, I got the lead role in my first-ever play. As I grow, I only realize more the impact she has had on me, and the profoundly positive role she has played in my life.