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Monday, May 7, 2007

Wherever you are Ms. Tmarsel, thank you!


It was Ms. Tmarsel, whose spunk made me think not all teachers were the same (boring). Ms. "T", who did not talk to me like a child, but used the same tone with me she did with her colleagues, and made me feel more mature than my age. When she saw my penchant for brooding, she did not condemn it, but used it to steer me artfully, I thought, towards self-reflection. "A Psychologist Boni, that's what you should be" she said with every smile. She even took me to see Rain Man when it first came out; just me and her, a student and a hero. If only she knew that I never wanted to be a psychologist - that I wanted to be her. The first day I stood in front of my very own classroom, I wished she were there to see it.

In a 2x2 note Ms. Tmarsel wrote to me before I graduated, she said that I was competent, but not competitive. I always felt like I had let her down when she said that, like I had not been who she intended to mold. After all, she didn't explain what she meant to any of us when she slipped these little pieces of paper in our books as special farewell messages. Without clarification, I was forced to find my own meaning. I supposed now, that's exactly what she wanted me to do.

Google tells me that Ms. Tmarsel is somewhere in South Korea with YWAM. She is probably doing the same thing, changing more lives as she transforms herself. It is National Teacher Day and I remember one among the many teachers who have touched my life inextricably, inexpicably. Thank you Ms. Tmarsel.

If you are a teacher you need to know that you'll never know how much you'll impact lives. On behalf of children like me who had teachers like you, thank you too.

7 comments:

Jeff said...

Nice post Yvonne, and thanks for the comment on mine. You're doing a great job over there at GES.

Saipan Writer said...

This is a beautiful tribute. Teachers are so special in the lives of their students. I'm glad you had a special teacher, and that you were receptive to her special message.

Some day one of your students will write a tribute to you (if they haven't already).

[No one ever writes tributes to their lawyers-haha!]

Melissa said...

I had a teacher in highschool named Mrs. Ambler. She made us memorize her home phone number on the first day of class, in case we ever needed her and didn't feel like we could call our parents. I still remember the number. And the impact she had on me and my classmates for going the extra mile and caring. Thanks to all of you teachers!

Bev said...

Love this post and it reminded me of a couple teachers that no doubt impacted my life. My favorite was my chemistry teacher, Dr. Salt. All I can say is that she was brilliant and had the gift to teach Chemistry. Her encouragement inspired me to pursue dentistry. =)

Melissa said...

I think it's hysterical that your chemistry teacher's name was Dr. Salt... I'm sure she got some jokes about it!

Bon said...

Thanks gals. It is a true story and I wish I could find her to tell her myself. BTW: I love attorneys, I think you all deserve kudos. School law was my favorite admin class! Mr. Salt the chem teacher is funny. My son says the ceramics teacher at his school is named Mr. Wood.

Jeff said...

And his significant other is an English teacher named Miss Read.