My Dear Mr. Boel

My Dear Mr. Boel

Now I can’t speak for everybody, but middle school was an absolute nightmare. I lost more friends than I gained and drama was around almost every bricked corner. Every day was just a fight to get by and all my little body wanted to do was stay in bed all three years. However in seventh grade I made a decision to join Central Middle School’s chorus. Led by the music teacher, Mr. Christopher Boel.

To this day he could easily be my favorite teacher. The music room that I would find myself in for most of the morning before the first bell was a calming nature in and of itself. I remember being able to talk to Mr. Boel about everything and anything, and I often did. For two thirds of my middle school life, if you needed to find me I was almost always in Mr. Boel’s classroom.

Sure, it helped a great deal that music was one of my favorite topics and continues to be to this day. But I always loved being able to walk in the room like I wasn’t about to lose my mind in English class or like my friends weren’t all turning against me. I felt safer in that room with Mr. Boel talking about weather patterns and kitchen tiles than I did in the guidance office discussing my mental health.

I have so many amazing memories with Mr. Boel. My eighth grade year I was elected president of the chorus council. That meant going to council meetings and making sure everything was taken care of for the rehearsal on Tuesday or Friday. You might think that it would be a stressful task that somebody with anxiety couldn’t possibly handle, but I had Mr. Boel’s help every step of the way. Whether it was genuine help and we got things done way faster than I could have done by myself or joking around with me until my stress was gone with the wind, I could always count on his flexibility on due dates and compassion for his students to save the day.

He was my chaperone for my eighth grade trip to Gettysburg, and that was a blast. Around that time was when I started losing some friends that I thought were great, and that took a toll on me. However Mr. Boel wanted to make sure this trip was as enjoyable for me as humanly possible. When we went to the battlefield of Gettysburg, he would ask me all these questions about the battle because he knew I absolutely loved history. We would sit next to each other at breakfast because nobody else wanted to sit with me, and he may have thought that was such a small gesture but for me it meant the absolute world.

I may not have Mr. Boel as a teacher anymore, but the conversations we had and the lessons I learned from him will stick with me through the rest of my life. In a way he was the longest friend I had in middle school and I thank him for that. You may not read this but if you do, thank you so much Mr. Boel for being so influential in my life. Thank you for being you.