My family and I moved to Regina in 2012. Since grade four, I have been a part of an accepting and a supportive community, where I was able to decide to become a teacher. In grade four, I barely spoke English— all I knew were basic phrases and words. Despite the difficulty in
communication, my classroom teacher made me feel welcomed and included in the classroom where majority of the students were white. He made sure that I was included in all the activities and lessons. And sure enough, my classmates were just as friendly as the teacher— they made sure I did not feel excluded and always helped me with homework that I had difficulty understanding. I did not realize the importance of the influence teachers have on students until high school. In my high school, we had two social studies teachers; where one teacher is known for his friendly and enthusiastic behaviour while the other teacher is known as strict. I was lucky to be in the friendly teacher’s class, which was the best decision I have made in my high school life. He was passionate about what he was teaching and his humour and jokes never made the class boring. Even though he was a tough grader, I still enjoyed his class and
learned a lot from it. He was approachable in and out of class time and he made sure that all his students were comfortable with him and the class material. He was the first teacher that had a personal connection to his students— he was not just a teacher, but someone the students could
trust and rely on. I took his classes for social studies 10, 20, and 30, and each class I was always amazed at how great of a teacher he was. The two teachers have taught and inspired me to become a teacher that not only can teach well, but to be able to connect to the students to understand and have a positive influence, as well as teach in a way the students are
able to enjoy learning.