Luis Sierra
A Teacher’s Care Revision
It all started in my junior year of high school. I took an AP Spanish class that was mostly seniors with very little juniors. It was the only class that was easy for me, every other class was difficult for me and I felt stuck or left behind in them. I ended up making friends in that class, including my teacher Ms. Baduy. She always chimed in on the conversations and made jokes with us, she was just one of those teachers that gets along with all her students. I had Ms. Baduy since my sophomore year and got along with her right off the bat. Ms. Baduy is a nice, fun, and caring teacher, she’s in her early twenties so she still knew what was going on in the school and what went viral on instagram, snapchat, facebook, etc. She was my favorite teacher from that school and she knew it too but junior year was when we got closer and I knew I could count on her.
It was the month before summer began. Everyone rushed out of the classrooms and into the hallway as the bell rang. I was the last one out and walked down the stairs to Ms. Baduy’s class and sat on a desk as i waited for her to finish grading some papers, there were some other kids in there finishing up a test. They looked at me for answers since they knew I was a senior and scored a 4/5 on the ap spanish test. I gave hints to some since I knew they were just going to fail the test, afterwards they left and felt satisfied with the 65 they would get. Ms. Baduy and I were closer after junior year and now that I was a senior she always saw me hanging around her class. She looked up at me and smiled and then looked back down, she always treats me like family as if we were siblings, her smile and energy was warm and welcoming. Once she was done with the papers we talked about our day and how we cant wait for summer to come, she told me she was pregnant a few weeks ago and now she tells me how it’s going and how she can’t wait to have her daughter in her arms already. No doubt about it, her daughter is gonna be lucky to have her as a mother. I left for home after that and walked with some friends, talking about our plans for college life.
Graduation was getting closer and I popped into her room more often since I knew I wouldn’t see her for a while. This time she had more of a bump and she seemed tired from all the school work. No kids in the classroom as she’s been taking it easier compared to how she started the year. I sat on top of a desk and smiled at her and she returned the same smile back. This time I asked her about her college life and she told me about how she traveled and studied. I told her I planned to finish college and become a lawyer that deals with immigration. She seemed taken aback, I guess she wasn’t expecting me to leave the type of life I lived. It was full of crazy nights and crazy people. I was always hanging around someone that had some dope on them or would always be fighting. I told her I was tired of being on the streets trying to make a dollar out of everything I could and that i just want some desk job. It all became obsolete to me, the drugs and alcohol weren’t helpful when it came to making a better future for myself. She knows about the many things i did throughout high school and knows that some of them weren’t the best decisions I could’ve made. I sold what I could knowing the risk of getting caught and what type of consequences there were. Regardless of what i did she never judged or scolded me, only told me to be careful and to keep my head on straight. This time it was different, after looking shocked by the change that I want she told me that I’m a good kid and that she sees the light in my eyes. She always gave me confidence and she never gave up on me. She helped me see what i have to do to become successful.
My big sister, that’s what she is. She never was my teacher and i know i’m not the only one of her students that feel this way. Most call her mom but i don’t see her as that. She lead me to the right path and now i know to keep walking it. All of our conversations made me want to be ‘better’ in a way. To leave behind the street life and begin to create a new and more stable lifestyle. What she said to me replays in my mind when I struggle, her telling me the potential that she sees in me. That was the start of a new life for me, the only reason I got it was because I had someone that I could count on in school, someone who didn’t give up on me and chose to get to know me instead. I’ll never forget my time in BIshop Loughlin Memorial High School because of her and I’ll always be happy to hear from her. My younger sister just entered that school and I told her that once Ms. Baduy comes back to school from paternity leave, that she should go and say hi to her and give her my best wishes. No doubt about it i told my sister to get close to her because Ms. Baduy is gonna look out for her and make sure she stays on track. Not all teachers show the same care, some just care that the students do their work and pass, others only care about their paycheck. Some do go out of their way to make sure you’re okay and to know what goes on in your life. It’ll always be hard no matter what but I also learned that sometimes you can depend on someone and other times you have to depend on yourself in order to move forward. Just don’t give up hope.
