[Little32]

Least favorite: Sister Pat (is it bad to speak ill of nuns?), she was my seventh grade homeroom, reading, and science teacher. This is the woman that told me in seventh grade that I couldn't listen and take notes at the same time. To make sure that I fully understood her point, she took my notebook (that I was taking notes in) and threw it across the classroom. She is also the same woman that told me that I could not have possibly understood a story that I read during reading, because I had read it too fast. She asked me what the story was about; after I told her and was completely accurate, she made me memorize "The Road Not Taken" for being right. That was about the only good thing that she did; I love that poem to this day. Also, before I met Sister Pat, purple was my favorite color. But that woman wore purple every day, and basically ruined the color for me. It has only been the last three years or so that I have started wearing purple again.

Favorites: One of my favorite has to be my AP English teacher Mr. Gilbert. It was in his class that I decided to be an English major in college; and his methods of teaching influence the way that I teach today. Also, he was really nice to me outside of class too. I felt, in highschool, like something of an ugly duckling. One day, Mr. Gilbert told me a story about a student of his who was to use his words, "a late bloomer," not particularly popular or sought after in highschool. He told me that he had seen her when she was about 30 years old in a restaurant, and that she was easily the most stunning woman in the place. Though at the time I thought, "so it's true, I am ugly now," now I understand that there is something to be said for growing into your beauty--and I think that this is what Mr. Gilbert was trying to tell me.

Dr. Carmines, at Hampton University. She is another one that has influenced my love of literature and my style of teaching. She was tough and challenging, but in such a way that I always felt really good about what I accomplished in her class--even if it wasn't the A+ that I was used too. She was one of those teachers that really forces you to push your thinking about a topic or a text beyond your comfort zone to the next level. Also, to this day, she is a mentor to me professionally and apparently I for her. She has told me some of the ways that my own pursuits have influenced her ways of thinking, and a couple of years ago, she told me that she was going to use something that I had written for her senior seminar class (thesis). That was really flattering. I really love that we have this relationship that has evolved from professor/student to collegial.