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webster
Community Member
10 posts
313 comments
2.9K upvotes
1.5K points
She/they, but preferably she. I love music and gaming. I play the guitar religiously.
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Every Month is Pride Month!
webster • commented on 11 posts 2 years ago
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webster • upvoted 29 items 2 years ago
hmasing reply
When I was in 5th grade in 1975, my parents were divorcing and I was living with my abusive father. If I didn't get B+ or better on my report card, I got the belt. Not a little, mind you. A full-on beat down, and probably denial of meals for a while. The '70's with an abusive parent were a very different time. My father had quite a reputation in the small Pennsylvania town I lived in (McKean, PA). He was known as an incredibly strict person, and our neighbors all hated him. But this was a different time, and that sort of behavior was ignored in public. My 5th grade math teacher, Mr. Cunningham, scared me. He looked a bit like my father, and didn't suffer any nonsense in his classroom at all. I struggled with mathematics, and it just didn't make sense to me. We got our first report card in 5th grade. These were the days where you could carry a card with you for the day, and the teacher would write your grade on the report card. You would then have to take it home, and have a parent sign it to acknowledge that they had seen your grades. So far, through the day, the grades were good. A's, mostly, an A-, but all good. Math was my last class of the day before I had to catch the bus. When my report card came back to me, I froze in terror. I recall this moment like a photograph. The grade was a D, written in pen, right there on the report card. I knew what was coming. The blood drained out of my face. Mr. Cunningham dismissed the class, and I was frozen in my desk. Scared of what he would do, and even more scared of what my father would do. All the other kids had left the classroom, and my world around me was gone - just me, my books, and the D staring at me telling me that my 10-year old self was going to suffer. Badly. I felt a hand on my shoulder, and I shook and started crying. Mr. Cunningham looked at me. He took my report card out of my hand, and walked up to his desk. He called me up there. I was still terrified, probably shaking, definitely trying to hide my crying and failing. He got out a black pen and changed the D into a B+. He didn't say anything, he just looked at me. He knew. He could see the signs, and he knew how terrified I was and why. I had no idea an adult could be so compassionate, and had no idea it was even possible to change something like that. He handed my report card back to me, and said two words that have stayed with me to this day. "Earn this." He put his hand on my shoulder and said, "I know. It's not fair, and I'm sorry. You're a smart kid, and you can get this. Just ask me for help." He knew. It was a simple act of kindness, and it's stuck with me to this day. The math grade didn't matter - I'm successful enough in my 50's to not have that come up on my permanent record. But the permanent change of my impression of Mr. Cunningham is still very much with me. If you have power over other people, you have to wield that power with compassion. You have to tailor that power to meet the needs of the individual. That is the lesson I learned that day from Mr. Cunningham. The next terms I got a B+ or better. I assume it's because I worked really hard, and Mr. Cunningham helped me out at lunch - or, he was kind because he knew. Thank you, Mr. Cunningham. This was 45 years ago, and I still remember you.
reusethisname reply
Senior year of high school. I was on the wrestling team and I had cut about 30lbs that year, from 170 down to 140. I happened to have the same math teacher 3 years in a row so we really got to know each other. First name basis and all that. She knew how much weight I cut for the season, I told her and it was obvious just from my face. I wasn't fat before my cut either, I had a 6 pack. She had a strict no eating in class policy. That'll be important in a minute. The day after the wrestling season ends I walk into math class and sit down. She walks over to my desk and puts a whole apple pie right in front of me (she knew it was my favorite), handed me a fork, and said she'll ignore the no eating rule for 1 day. I finished that whole pie in maybe 30 minutes. Linda, I'll never forget that. You absolutely made my day.
SaltyAbility reply
I faked my way through 4th and 5th grade math. I never understood how to do long division, but managed to hide that from the teachers and answer test questions by reverse multiplication - basically guess a number and multiply it out and see how close I would get, and keep doing it until I got the answer. My 6th grade math teacher figured out that I was faking, and had no idea how to actually divide anything. She had me come in one afternoon to “help with cleaning the erasers” (all the kids fought for this privilege , so I was thrilled), sat me down and tutored me until I grasped the concept. Bless you, Mrs. Gillespie!
Gar_Eval reply
I was anorexic when I was in school. She took me aside after class and told me that if I didn’t stop doing what I was doing to myself I was going to die. That my body was going to start shutting down, my organs would fail, that it would not be beautiful and I was going to die an awful and painful death. I still catch myself slipping back into that mindset ten years later sometimes. But I will never forget that. She saved my life.
hello_specific_ocean reply
Senior year I was placed in a Freshman typing class. Everyone Else was chatty and goofed off, but I wanted to learn to type, so I really put in a lot of effort. I only had two classes in the morning, and the rest of the day I was a waitress, as I was pretty much on my own in my senior year. I got called into work on the day of our class final, so I went to work and missed the final. When I showed up to class the next day, I apologized to the teacher for missing the final. He asked me “do you want to know the grade you got?” When I replied yes, he said “I gave you an A because if you had been here, that’s what you would’ve gotten.” I never forgot that. Thank you Mr. Wyatt.
Zalanor1 reply
Called my mum while she was at work to tell her I'd written one of the best things he'd ever seen as a teacher.
chrissyv54 reply
At my high school, we had an annual week long science trip, fully paid for by fundraising. Only 4 people were selected to go each year. My sophomore year, I was chosen. I knew there was no way I was going to be allowed to go. I had never been out of the state, never been on a single vacation, never been on a plane and never been away from home for more than 24 hours. My parents were incredibly conservative and immediately said no. I had a science teacher who just didn't accept the no. Instead of just giving up and selecting someone else, he called and tried to convince my parents. When that didn't work, he came to my house and had dinner with my family to convince my dad that I would be an asset and he would be doing me a disservice by not letting me go. He sat and ate my mom's terrible cooking and talked to my parents for over 2 hours until he got a "we'll think about it". Then he just kept following up. I had never had someone in my corner like that before, who was willing to go to bat for me like that. He wore them down and it was the best week of my teenage life. I'd never seen the ocean. 20 years later and I can still recall every detail of that trip. It was a major pivot point for me.
Ljmeeds1 reply
3rd grade-Mrs Jones. My dad had just deserted us and we were suddenly destitute. She bought my school pictures for us and paid my lunch bill all year. She never said a word about it. Only found out later. Bless her
pseudonymous_lemon reply
Had a highschool art teacher who would let me stay in his classroom during lunches. Always gave me half his sandwich and other extra food because he knew I didn't eat much otherwise. Edit: He would also keep a drawer in the classroom stocked with snacks so that I could swing by and grab something between classes if I needed. No, he never did anything "questionable", and no, I never "fell asleep" after eating the sandwiches. He was just a kind person :)
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webster • submitted 7 new posts 2 years ago
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webster • commented on 20 posts 2 years ago
webster • upvoted 20 items 2 years ago
