What is a NOUN?

Some of us have wonderful memories of our elementary school. The days when all we had to worry about was 2+2 equaling four and if we understood that we were automatically geniuses and life was great. I wish I could say the same for my memories. I used to bring a picture of my mother to school because I was so afraid to walk into the "chamber of darkness" by myself.

I moved from Staten Island, NY, to Berkeley Heights, NJ, when I was in the second grade. I suspect most people don't know the differences between these two areas so let me explain. In Staten Island all of my family lived within a mile radius of one another so there was always someone to play with. The houses were practically connected to one another so everyone on the "block" knew everyone else. There was a sense of community. Berkeley Heights was a small town and at that time I didn't even know what a town was I thought it was a place with a lot of trees and wild deer. My house was three times the size of my old one and the spacing between the houses tired my little body by just looking at it. So I had no friends, no "block", and no cousin to ride my big wheels with.

My parents sent me to a small Catholic elementary school in the next town over. This was the kind of school where no matter what you did you were going to hell so one's only salvation was to remain silent. I had no friends, all the kids thought I spoke funny and laughed at me. None of my teachers liked me or gave me any attention in class. I could raise my hand until my arm turned green and the teacher still would not acknowledge my presence. Unfortunately the story does not get better.

I moved to the third grade and had Sister Evil for my teacher. She would yell at me for playing with the boys. I was too shy to tell her that none of the girls liked me and the boys were the only ones who would talk to me. Along with always yelling at me she found every possible way to embarrass me in class. One day in class we were discussing the usage of nouns. Each student had a sentence that they had to read out loud, picking out the noun after reading it. Well I chose the wrong word and Sister Evil took advantage of this. "Don't you know the difference between a noun and a verb!" she said. "We oughta send you back to the second grade and maybe you will fit in there."

School got better after that year because I made a friend who also transferred and we understood one another's problems. I never forgot the "noun" incident and probably never will. I never realized that teachers viewed me as intelligent until I was in high school. I myself will probably not teach but I still view the profession as one of the most important and vital to society. A teacher can make or break a student's confidence and as a result shape how students view themselves.

I have had some incredible teachers throughout my sixteen years of schooling and I will always remember them for the strength and confidence they instilled in my heart. As for Sister Evil, I will always remember her as a poor teacher who ruined a part of my early learning experience. "A teacher affects eternity; he can never tell where his influence stops" (Tuesdays with Morrie, pg. 79). If only every teacher knew how much they actually affected their students, maybe then we would have more teachers who enjoyed teaching simply because developing young minds was their life long passion.

by Maria R.