Growing up in a small northwestern farming community in Illinois I experienced many exceptional and unique experiences, but one of the greatest of those experiences was receiving a great education. Small classrooms, close friends and exceptional teachers all made up part of my unique education experience. I received one on one teaching and instruction when I asked, my parents received teacher conferences without hassles and the greatest of all my teachers knew me and my family and I was not just considered a number. To have to pick one teacher out of all of the teachers I had has proven to be very difficult. If I had to pick one teacher out of my pre-k through twelfth grade instruction that had an impact on whom I have become today, one name pops into my mind, La Senora or Mrs. Ricketts.
Mrs. Ricketts was my high school Spanish teacher and walking into her classroom everyday was exciting and challenging. The classroom was like a flea market, bright colors, things hanging from every corner and photographs from around the world hung across the room. It was not so much the appearance of the classroom that impacted me but the way Mrs. Ricketts taught and conducted her classroom. She was always in control making sure that new foreign language learners could grasp the concept of the day. Learning a new foreign language is a difficult experience but in her classroom Mrs. Ricketts welcomed questions, embraced our mistakes and carefully corrected us. Her classroom became a safe haven for me as a student where I knew I would not be put down or humiliated if I failed. Spanish became a subject that I looked forward to and strived to succeed in due to Mrs. Ricketts passion for Spanish and for teaching. I believe that sitting in her classroom helped me through some of the roughest times of my life.
That sounds strange but she somehow took my mind off what was currently going on in my life and captured my attention in a new culture and language.
Whether she knows it or not Mrs. Ricketts was my primary reason for majoring in education. It is my hope that someday I will be able to impact my students the way that I was impacted in high school Spanish. Although I have strayed away from becoming a teacher many times throughout my college education I still come back and Mrs. Ricketts is the primary reason. I hope that my students will feel safe, have a passion for my teaching and a love for my class when I begin to teach.
-- Hannah Boruff, Florida Atlantic University