It was the first day of second semester of junior year, and I no longer had the math teacher I had grown comfortable with in room 160. My new math teacher was in room 187. As I walked into my now third hour math class, I saw my friends excitedly chit chatting about their weekend; they waved me over and I took a seat next to my friend Maggie, who had had this teacher last semester -- she told me I’d be fine.
“Alright who wants to explain to the newbies how this class works?” my new teacher asked the returning Advanced Algebra kids in a strict voice with the door slamming behind him.
Looking over to Maggie, I whispered, “I’m switching to my last semester teacher tomorrow.”
My new math teacher was an older, experienced man with snow white hair combed over to the side--the typical, strict teacher that was going to make math a nightmare for me to pass. To add to the positive vibe, he was already doing the things that scared me... making jokes with kids in my class I’ve never seen before, calling on random people for answers off of the seating chart, and diving right into the agenda without an icebreaker. But, I sat through the next week of class with the hopes I would get more comfortable, and, within two weeks, I was going in for help outside of class and making jokes with my strict, scary, and serious new math teacher in room 187.
Mr. Urban is an excellent teacher because he looks for things most teachers miss--facial expressions and body language. During a discussion in class about finding zeroes from an equation, I stared blankly at the board oblivious as to how he got ?, -1, and 3 from (3x+2), (x+1), and (x-3). He caught on and he stopped talking mid-sentence, smiled at me and said “Here, Rach, it’s real simple, watch. All you have to do is take the number in front of the x and slide it under the number by itself and switch the sign. Got it?”
I did get it then, and understanding anything in math never came that easy. For the first time in math class, within seconds of a teacher reexplaining a topic, I understood it and could move on with the other kids. I felt like a math superhero that could conquer anything that got in my way of doing well thanks to Mr. Urban’s care, and his simplifying words to help see the non complexity of math. I always knew I did well on a test when I got it back with “Atta girl!”or “Way to go, Ray Ray!” was written on the top by my score. Those little encouraging sayings let me know that student’s scores weren’t just numbers to enter into his gradebook to him.
Whether it's before school, after school, or during his off hours, Mr. Urban is willing to give help and take time to explain any topic from any math class. During my study halls, I went into his classroom to get questions answered and  work through homework problems I couldn’t get answers to. Most of the time, I would go in there and there would be five other kids sitting around his desk getting help or studying with him for an upcoming quiz or test. Out of all his free periods throughout the day, I don’t think Mr. Urban has one to himself to prep for the next class because his students are so eager to seek help from him out of all the other math teachers here at Arrowhead, even though they have similar math degrees as him.
I was never the person to spend extra time on a class, but with Mr. Urban as my teacher, I found myself prancing to his classroom every study hall I had to conquer these complex math problems I spent hours staring at getting more and more frustrated by the second.  I was someone to give up, move on, and come up with an excuse in my head for why I shouldn’t worry about it or waste anymore time on it--but I am no longer that way or in that mindset about math any longer. I make sure if I don’t understand a problem or know how to do it, I figure out each and every step to master that problem which has evolved my math experience and made going to math class no longer a drag. I look forward to conquering those problems.
I never was fond of math because it did not come easy to me. I needed more time and more examples than the other kids, and Mr. Urban understood that. But he never let me feel as if I weren’t smart enough to figure a problem out. He never let me move on without being able to explain what I did and why I did it. And he never let me give up.
Now it’s senior year, and it may be surprising to think I’m still prancing my way down to Mr. Urban’s classroom during my study halls to get help. He goes over homework, quizzes, and tests with me to make sure I understand it all, even though I am no longer in his class. Besides being an amazing tutor in math, he has helped me tremendously with my college choices and deadlines. Throughout the college application process, he was always reminding me to take my time making the right decision with which one I pick to commit to or to “get that fee in on time!”
It was the first day of second semester of junior year, and I no longer had the math teacher I had grown comfortable with in room 160. My new math teacher was in room 187, and if I had to switch teachers, Mr. Urban is the best one to switch to.