As a freshman, starting a new school year was very stressful. I had to make new friends, meet new teachers, and even adapt to the school’s environment. I was the one to fly under the radar and keep to myself so I wouldn’t draw any attention. However, a lot of this changed when I met my bio teacher Mr Long. Mr Long brought out the best in me and always brightened my days at school. Sadly, Mr Long is retiring after this year. I want him to know that he impacted me in such a positive way, and I couldn’t imagine making it through freshman year without him.

When I first met Mr Long, there was a huge cage in the corner of his room that held a snake named Sheliah. Immediately Mr Long enlightened us with stories about Sheliah, and, he let us hold and play with her. We even ended up losing her throughout the semester, but she always returned. Mr Long also taught me many life lessons. He taught me that even when an experiment fails, you have to keep trying to get the best result you can in the end. I carried that lesson with me throughout the rest of the school year.

As I got to know Mr Long better, his humor really showed. I can’t remember a class where he didn’t crack a joke or make a pun. I remember this one time when some of the boys in my class were acting up; Mr Long made them all stand at attention for the rest of class. He would always make fun of how immature they were. Mr Long would also use sarcasm to answer questions if he thought they were stupid, to make us realize we already know the answer. He never failed to keep a smile on each of our faces.

One of the things I really admire about Mr Long is his drive to help his students succeed. He breaks down each lesson until we all understand the material well. He involves labs and activities that really represent the units we do. For example, he gave us a deck of cards and we had to separate them into piles as fast as we could to see how our senses react. Mr Long also gave us a project to recreate a DNA molecule so we could understand the break down of it and we take a bunch of notes on testable questions so we are prepared. Although I only had his class for half the year, I felt he gave me the best possible experience I could’ve had.

In conclusion, my freshman year experience would be so much different without Mr Long. He has affected me in ways that no teacher ever has; he is like no other. He taught me the values of life and that it’s okay to not always be serious and to enjoy myself. I will miss him but life must go on, and I wish him the best in his retirement years. Thank you, Mr Long. You are my educator of the year.