Many people in this world make different impacts on other people’s lives in various positive ways. Someone in particular that I can surely say has impacted me in my life is my seventh and eighth grade math teacher Sister Elaine. Sister Elaine works at Christ the Teacher Catholic School. She has devoted her life to God and helping others. Sister Elaine is a very kind and caring person, and always has a positive attitude when teaching. No matter which student she teaches, she has faith in that child’s ability to learn and receive good grades in her class. She is a great person; she has impacted my life by teaching me to have confidence in myself and to believe that I can do anything.

I really got to know Sister Elaine back at the start of 7th grade when I was selected to be in her advanced math class. She had previously been assistant principal so I must admit that I was a little nervous to be in her class. However, once she started teaching, she was very friendly. Sadly, I got caught up in not focusing on my studies and I began falling behind in my schoolwork, which led to receiving low scores on my tests in math. I would have some days where I would try my best to study and do well in her class, but I just kept getting scores that were barely passing the grade. The low scores began to frustrate me very much, but Sister Elaine believed I could do better. Even at times when I was disappointed in myself, it made me feel good to know that Sister Elaine still had faith in me to do my best and succeed in the class.
Sister Elaine was a great teacher and helped me with many things. She would constantly monitor if I was doing well. Every class she would check my homework and make sure I was getting the correct answers. She said that the reason I was doing bad was that I was not reviewing the lesson every night. I did not listen to her theories about getting good grades, and I remained getting the same bad grades. That did not stop Sister Elaine’s faith in me though. Her amount of faith continued to be really important to me. Her having so much belief and confidence in me really made me feel good about myself. I realized that if someone else had that kind of faith in me, then I should have faith in myself as well. She drastically changed my life because I began to learn to have confidence in myself.
At the start of my 8th grade year, I was put into her advanced math class again. I decided that this year I would make sure I did well in math. She kept preaching to me that in order to do well, I must review every night what was taught in class that day. I started to get into the habit of doing what she said. I tried her theory out for the first marking period, and I ended up getting an A in her class! She had taught me a studying method that worked for me. It tremendously impacted my study skills, and I still remember the joy I had anytime I received a good grade in her class. I could tell she was very proud of me and I realized the whole time she was right. I could do anything, and she truly believed that. She has impacted my life by bettering my study habits and most importantly, believing in myself that I can do anything. I just have to make sure I try my hardest in whatever I attempt to do.
Now I am currently in high school and am in an honors math class. I am doing very well in the class, and I give credit to Sister Elaine for helping me become the better student that I am today. I now apply what she taught me back in middle school to every class, and it definitely makes me a better student. It even shows how much better I am doing by the grades I am receiving. I maintain about a 4.0 grade point average and I believe that it all started with Sister Elaine’s impact on my life. Without a doubt, I nominate Sister Elaine as Educator of the Year for her faith in others to do their best at anything they would like to do. She has impacted my life, and I am sure she will impact many more lives in the future.