Has the undersized ever accomplished anything? I was the smallest kid in the class going into my fifth grade year. With shyness and no confidence what was I to do? I needed someone that I could look up to and follow; someone that could guide me and help me out of anonymity to become a better person. My teacher had all of these things and displayed them well. He had confidence, patience, perseverance, and was really tall. He was everything that I wanted in a mentor. As best I could, I tried to be just like him.


I was a quiet, short, and shy little kid my first day of fifth grade. Walking into the homeroom I found out that everything had changed from the previous year. Everything in the room was so new and different. It felt like nothing was right. As the class was calming down my teacher got up and introduced himself. He said his name with such boldness and confidence, that nothing could stop the letters from breaking out of his mouth. I watched how he conducted the teaching with such ease and detail. An admiration for him started to grow inside me. I wanted to speak loud and show everyone that I could be bold and confident. Looking towards my teacher as my model I worked to become more self confident, to become a better all around person.


As the year progressed, more than just confidence grew inside me. A love of learning was slowly making its way into my life. I was being introduced to new things that I started to love and enjoy. One of these things was logic problems. Every week the class would do a few logic problems for fun. These logic problems challenged your mind and introduced a new way of thinking and solving problems. I was also introduced to reading aloud. Since kindergarten I have read short books to myself, but have never read anything aloud to the class until fifth grade. My teacher had a class book that either he read from, or someone from the class read from, every week. By reading aloud, I gave myself experience and a love of reading for the future. It was hard at first, but with my new confidence and self assurance I learned fast. Learning was fun too because of all the new things I was learning and all the fun I was having doing it.


Thinking about all of my possible career choices, my teacher made a strong influence. One day in fifth grade my teacher taught me how to shake a hand. When going into an interview he said to look the employer straight in the eye, put out your hand, and grab and shake his hand firmly. With the knowledge of that and all the other things that my teacher has taught me, I feel like I’m ready for the future. I decided that I wanted to have the influence on people that my teacher had on me. I wanted to portray the confidence, self assurance, and leadership as a parent and possible teacher.


My teacher has been a strong influence to me throughout my life. He taught me how to be confident and strong on the inside. He taught me to love reading, learning, and logic. Also, he educated me on some important life skills that will benefit me later in life.


My teacher is my mentor because he showed me that you can be a successful, kind, influential, and a well-liked person. I will remember him and everything that he has taught me for the rest of my life.