As the sun rose over that cinderblock building I bit my finger nails. My stomach was tied in knots so I skipped breakfast. I sat in the car waiting for my brother to take me to my first day of high school. 

When I got there, I had a mountain of difficulty making it to my class — I had walked up and down each hall looking but didn’t realize my English class was one of about six classes held upstairs. When I finally got there, I knew it would be a good day. 

The room was decorated with works made by former students. A collection of small toys/figures of the Muppets and characters from Phineas and Ferb on a window sill. In the corner was two cardboard cutouts: a Darth Vader and an Elizabeth from the Pirates of the Caribbean. There didn’t even seem to be a teacher there, just another student in the teacher’s chair. So while looking around the room admiring the decor, the bell called for my attention.

After the pledge and listening to the rest of the announcements, we were greeted by a friendly voice. “Hello good morning...” Mr. Andrews rose out of his chair and told us about who he was, and his class (which was pretty par for the course). But from what he described, his class was anything but. 

He talked about how second semester there’d be sword fighting, and how we would give presentations about one another. He said he’d give us candy for doing our homework early. This  helped to motivate me, because I’ve been procrastinating professionally ever since elementary school.

Mr. Andrews found ways to connect with us students. Whether it was playing games during his free time, taking group pictures, or even just showing videos (such as an interview he had given to the news), he was able to keep his class fun while still covering the content we needed to learn. This helped me remember the information. I can still give you a summary of Of Mice and Men, Lord of the Flies, or The Odyssey, even though I took the class four years ago. 

As the sun rose on that cinderblock building, the sun set on my fears. I knew every morning would be fine, because I’d be starting off my day with THE Mr. Andrews. So Thank you Mr. Andrews for keeping the mornings fun and full of life. Thank you for being overwhelmingly passionate about everything you do. Thank you for being supportive and trust worthy. Thank you for everything you did, because it made a world of difference to me as a scared little freshman.