“He blew something up!” “He blew something up!” I heard someone yelling as I wandered through the halls between periods. “Who’s he, and what in G-D’s name did he blow up,” I thought to myself? This was my first introduction, as informal as it may have been, to Mr. S. Earlier in my life I liked science, yet somewhere between forth and eighth grade I lost that interest. I dreaded going to science class, having to use those test tubes and Bunsen burners, always melting something, or watching something dissolve. I never really got it, and not too many teachers really cared that I didn’t. Mr. S, however, was different.

In tenth grade I had Mr. S for Chemistry class. Before I entered the class, I had contemplated wearing a helmet for fear of what might happen. When I saw a man with thick glasses and bushy hair, I thought that he looked just like a mad scientist. Although I can’t say I love science today, I can say that he changed my views not only about science but about my own capabilities as well. I began to understand concepts rather than just facts. What he taught me actually began to make sense to me and I realized why it was important.

Mr. S had a passion about science and he wanted to share that passion with all of his students. This is how things blew up in the classroom at times, nothing serious, but there was always an air of excitement in the room. After all, you didn’t know what might happen next. Mr. S made learning meaningful, as his students wanted to know how to do experiments and understand chemistry.

For me as a student, Mr. S made me believe in myself. I remember taking tests in his class, having to create those “structural formulas” with all those connecting molecules, which to me looked more like an erector set than a “structural formula.” As I would leave the room after the test I remember thinking to myself “there’s no way I passed that,” yet when I got the test back I would see marks for my work, and explanations for what I did wrong. I have no idea how long this must have taken Mr. S, but if it meant as much to other students as it did to me, I know it was worth it. Furthermore, I began to see what I was capable of in science and that carried over to other classes as well. I started to see things differently, realizing my potential as well as looking for larger concepts rather than getting stuck on the tiny details. It was the influence of Mr. S that made me a better, more understanding student, not only in science, but in other academic areas as well.