Thank's Ms. Carter

I blame Ms. Carter for my love of math. In Calculus BC I learned to be enthusiastic about everything, even Lagrange Form of Error. Because of calculus, school was no longer a dreaded and boring obligation. School, and especially math class, became for me an unpredictable adventure that made the entire school day brighter.

The adventure began in the first weeks of class when someone mentioned Harry Potter at my table. Before anyone knew it, we had devolved into the sanctioned singing of “Harry Potter Puppet Pals and the Mysterious Ticking Noise.” Silly, yes, but from that day I knew the class was going to be different from others I’d taken.

That silliness was Ms. Carter’s fault; it allowed her to sneak in chain rule or L’Hospital’s or some other methods of calculus, as well as the myriad of ways to do the day’s equation or rule. She layered it in, like medicine for a dog encased in meat or peanut butter: we’d discuss the latest happenings in math club, school, or district politics. We’d predict the weather or watch the latest promotional video that I had been consigned to make for our math club. It felt like a group discussion with math at its heart.

Yet that did not stop her from taking pleasure in burdening us with work that was often extremely tedious, just to see if we would complain. She taught us dedication to a subject: even when I was sick, I would often come into school for just that block because that was far better than being left behind, not that you ever wanted to miss a class anyway.

Ms. Carter is culpable for allowing me to learn far more than I ever anticipated. I learned chain rule, derivatives and Taylor’s rule. More importantly, I learned to bring out my hidden self that I tucked away behind walls of insecurity. I rarely talked to anyone but my closest friends about the video games I enjoyed, the instruments I played, the books I read, or the movies I made. However, Ms. Carter showed me how silly it is to worry about public opinion. She had no problem being just as dorky as us. Ms. Carter does not just help bring out the best in people; through her example I learned to bring down the walls that I had been hiding behind and just be myself.

And so my world changed. I can discuss my ideas, my dreams and my hobbies openly with others, a task that would have made me blush and mumble at the start of junior year. I propose new ideas and take risks. I have discovered a love for math, the arts and more, all thanks to Ms. Carter. When I go to college I look forward to being able to blame my future teachers for fostering my passions and encouraging me to express them.
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This was my essay I used to apply for college. Hope you enjoyed it!