Jun 06, 2011 13:25
On Friday we went to Cafe Rio to celebrate Caitlin's birthday, and Mr. Frossard was there! My old algebra teacher from my sophomore year. I kept wondering if I should go say something to him - he was the teacher who was absolutely certain I could get A's in math if I would just try a little. You know those dramatic movies that have the scene where the teacher is giving some motivational talk while the student sits there looking gloomy and/or hostile? Pretty much.
So then I thought, if I were him, would I want an old student to say something? Um, heck yes! High school math teacher is one of the most thankless jobs out there, considering like 85% of all kids hate math more than any other class. I should totally let him know that he made a difference to me (even though it didn't happen for years).
So I walked up and said, "Hey Mr. Frossard, do you remember me?" And he was like, "Yeah, it's Kristy, right? Kristy Buzbee." HOLY CRAP. It has been ten years since I had that class, and I look nothing like I did then, and I was definitely not a memorable kid in high school. For sure. And I said, "You spent an entire year trying to convince me that I wasn't too dumb to do math, even though I was sure I was. So I've wanted to thank you for that." Then I told him I was a head accountant now, and he was all smiles and I could tell it meant a lot to him. Because I left that class still feeling like math was too hard for a dumb girl like me, and then my math teacher my junior year was horrible and made me certain that it was. But when I was thinking about majoring in accounting, I was scared because I'd have to take so much math, then I thought, "Well, everyone hated Mr. Sheldon, and everyone liked Mr. Frossard, so his opinion is obviously more respected - and he told me he knew I could do it if I just put in a little effort."
And look! He was right!
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