“Does everyone have their book? It's the one with the soccer player on the front cover. I want everyone to know that soccer is my least favorite sport. Does anyone here play soccer?” 

I slowly raise my hand and look around the room to see if any of my fellow classmates share the same trait as I do. Nope. I’m the only one. 

Mr. Hall laughs at me, and apologizes but then tells me he is not going to pretend he likes the sport for me. I know he was joking, but it being Arrowhead soccer season, I knew I had a long semester ahead of me. 

Every game day that I walked into his class: Anatomy and Physiology, he would ask me who we played, if the game was at Arrowhead or away, and if we were going to win. Every game day I didn’t have his class, I would see him standing at the end of the hallway on my way to math, when he saw me in my jersey he would shout “good luck tonight, Hughes.” 

I would smile and say “thank you” as I walked into my classroom. The next day, Mr. Hall never failed to ask me how the game was, make fun of me for playing soccer, and then proceed to congratulate me if we had won. 

Even at 7:30 in the morning, I found Mr. Hall's sarcasm to be an enjoyable way to start my day. He is probably the realest teacher I've ever had. He helps his students when they need help, but his sarcasm always has a little truth behind it. He keeps his students on earth and never fails to remind us that we are just in high school, and we still have a lot of life to live. 

Mr. Hall is the kind of teacher that remembers people. He will make relationships with his students even if they don’t want one. I am a quiet student, I typically only talk when I'm called on, which is why I don’t blame teachers for forgetting my name a year after I've had them. 

Mr. Hall was my anatomy teacher junior year, I had his class every other day first and second hour. Sometimes, hearing him shout “good morning youngsters!” That early in the morning wasn't the best wake up call, but other days it was exactly what I needed. 

Now, I pass Mr. Hall in the hallway almost every day, and everytime I see him he says “Hi Megan” and asks me how my day is as we walk past each other. Part of the reason why he has stood out to me as a teacher so much might be because he taught one of my favorite classes I've taken in high school, but the biggest reason is because, a year later, he still remembers me.