High school can be really tough, between school, after school activities, SATs and the drama that is bound to happen, it can be very overwhelming. Personally, freshman year was the hardest. The school was so big as were the other kids and the school work was unbearable. One person who made a huge difference for me was my social studies teacher Mrs. Marie.

Mrs. Marie taught AP World History, probably the most difficult course I have ever taken to this day and I’m currently finishing my junior year. The work was constant and I studied for hours and hours on end. At the time, I was exhausted and annoyed at all this “unnecessary” work she constantly gave me, but looking back Mrs. Marie taught me many lessons.

Mrs. Marie taught me how to work hard. She taught me that in life no one is just going to hand you success. It’s your responsibility to go out and take charge. She taught me that anything you want in life, you can have it as long as you work hard and don’t take no for an answer. When I was unsure if I should take this class she said to me, “Go for it, you got nothing to lose. If you want to do it and are willing to put in the work, I would love to have you in my class.” And right then is when I was determined to make her proud.

One thing I loved about Mrs. Marie too was that she was always rewarded my hard work in any way she could. I was at every single extra help she had and she took note to that. She was always trying to find any way she could to help me. Unlike other teachers, I knew Mrs. Marie really appreciated all the work I was putting into this class and it made me want to work even harder to make her proud.

Now, I’m a junior in high school going committed to play a sport at an ivy league school, a dream I had since I was seven years old and I can’t say I would have took a shot at my dream if it weren’t for my favorite teacher Mrs. Marie.