Influential Teachers, Classmates

By the time we received our bachelor’s degrees, Sophie had made me realize I could do a lot of things if I really wanted to and if I was willing to work hard. Eventually I switched to business courses and earned a master of business administration degree. 

To this day, I am convinced that without Sophie’s support and confidence in me, I might not be where I am today. 

Barbara - Rosemead, California 

Amazing Dedication and Devotion

The special teacher in my life began her career at a very young age – when she was in first grade and would teach her little sister. She always dreamed of being a schoolteacher and ultimately became a high-school math teacher. 

She has always taught in small, rural schools, and has been at her current school for the past 19 years. She has received various “Teacher of the Year” awards, but, to her, the most rewarding part of the job is interacting with her students. 

This March, her daughter unexpectedly passed away less than two weeks before turning 18 – and only two months before graduation. Although still grieving, this teacher returned to school to fulfill her duties to her students and to finish the year as the senior class sponsor, the person who oversees prom, graduation and the senior trip. 

This special teacher is my daughter. 

Lynn - Hartman, Colorado 

Dear Teacher Was a Blessing

I had a very kind and influential teacher when I was in my second year of high school. It was the first semester of the school year, and suddenly I became quite ill and was confined to bed for many weeks. 

When I went back to school, I was way behind in all my studies and was worried that I was going to fail my classes. One day while in study hall, the algebra, geometry and trigonometry teacher approached me and asked me to follow her to her classroom. I was frightened, thinking I was in serious trouble for something, although I couldn’t figure out what. 

We reached Miss Markley’s room, and she told me to find a desk and be seated. Smiling a big smile, she told me she knew I was behind in all my subjects and said she wanted to help me get caught up so I wouldn’t fail. She said she had talked to the superintendent and my other teachers, and they had all agreed that she could help me. 

I had actually been afraid of this dear, kind woman before, because all the students talked against her because she never smiled, and she didn’t put up with any foolishness in her classroom. She was strictly business and felt that students were in her class to learn, and therefore, that’s what they would do. 

I met with Miss Markley every day to study, and we even got to where we would visit when we took a break between subjects. I came to dearly love this woman, who was the only one, and the least expected I might add, of my teachers who stepped up and helped me pass my classes when I so easily could have failed them all.