Ever since I was in sixth grade, I knew I wanted to be an educator. When people would ask what grade I wanted to teach, I would never know what to answer. I love children, no matter the age. Watching them problem solve and watching them find their own ways has always been interesting. From sixth grade to senior year, I couldn't find a teacher to click with. I always felt like I was butting heads with the teachers. I had my own ways of remembering and learning. Whenever a teacher told me how to outline or how to take notes, I would always ask if I could do it my way, so I would remember it easily. After that, they took it as being disrespectful. While in high school, I always wanted out. I couldn't stand being babied and chased down for assignments. I always did everything on time, sometimes turning things in before the due dates.
My senior year, I took a half schedule. I went to school for half of the day and work for the other half. On my first day of school, I met my Algebra III teacher. Mr. Robert Martin. The day I met this man was the day that changed my perspective of the teachers at Huntingtown High School. He did not degrade students, he always made sure that we understood content before moving on, but never babied us. Notes and homework were written in whatever format that we felt was best, as long as the things we learned during class were implanted in what we were writing down. Mr. Martin became my best friend. I would go to his class everyday for lunch, just talking to him about anything. I was known as the "teacher's pet" in class because he always said jokes in class and would point and laugh at me because I had previously heard it from him. I had a 100% in his class every quarter because I did my work, listened in class, and received extra credit for helping my classmates. When I didn't understand something he would say "see you at lunch", because he already knew I would be in his classroom.