You Made Me Feel...

Dance parties, eating ice cream cake in the middle of the day, sprinkled with some reading and comprehension activities. That was my first grade experience. However, it wouldn't be complete without the person who was running the entire show- Mrs. Leverett Luther King. There’s an old saying, you may forget what someone has done to you, but you’ll always remember how they made you feel. In retrospect, she made me feel smart, important, loved, and worthy of achieving all I could possible in this world as a shy nine year old girl who had ambition bubbling under the surface- she just didn’t know it yet.

Reading. Being literate was all the rave when you were in elementary school. If you couldn’t read and discuss all 27 Junie B. Jones books with your classmates, you were practically a loser; however, often times in class, we were limited to “grade one” reading levels. Sometimes I would rebel against those norms and read a grade five level book, or even a grade six, and for some reason, it made Mrs.Leverett super proud. Like, over the top proud. Dare I say, “extra.” She’d look at me in astonishment, then usher me towards one of the classrooms on the other side of the school where all the fifth grade teachers were, and made me read to them. “Listen to her, this kid’s brilliant. She can read at a fifth grade level and shes only in first grade!” I think it was a science book on earthquakes, maybe photosynthesis, something along the lines of “boring,” and “couldn’t care less about;” what I did care about however, was that praise my teacher offered me for being able to decipher a couple of random words in a book. It made me feel smart.

Although she went to great lengths to acknowledge my academic abilities, she also supported my personal talents as well. One day, she entered us all into a contest run by the Boston Police Department to draw something depicting common sense when it came to recognizing dangerous situations; mine was, “Never trust a stranger in disguise.” To my surprise, I had won. Won both an honorable mention, and my teachers undying support. She went to the front of the classroom to announce that I had gotten an award, urging my peers to clap for me, explaining to them how talented and creative enough I was to have been deserving of it. In that moment, I felt proud of myself. I have never had a teacher who was so genuine about their pride in my achievements, in fact, never had a teacher since then, who took it upon themselves to make me feel celebrated. It made me feel important.

Mrs.Leverett has had a huge impact on my self esteem and growth as a scholar. She urged me to hone my talents, to continue reading books, and above all, to take pride in our achievements. She taught us that we’re all extraordinary in our own ways. For instance, there may have been times where I had struggled in that class, especially in math, but there were also areas in which I shined, and a lot of emphasis was put on my abilities in said area to help compensate for the feeling of being “dumb.” Teachers should help mold their students into the best versions of themselves, to help them acknowledge their strengths, all the while teaching them how to humble themselves. Even better, would it surprise you to know that Mrs.Leverett still remembers me after all these years? We’re about to celebrate our three years of being friends on Facebook sometime soon. The fact that she remembers who I am better than my own teachers from last year makes me admire her even more. She made me feel loved.

Jokes aside, Mrs.Leverett, thank you for making me feel all of those emotions.