Who would have thought your 8th grade social studies teacher would have such an impact on how successful you might turn out to be in life? Well, if you asked me before 8th grade, I would have said never. The teacher that turned nearly everything around for me was Mrs. Seifred. She had one of the best personalities, and she never liked anyone feeling down so she would turn that around real fast. Also, she made every class very interesting with all the stories; you’d never want to have your ears wandering somewhere else. In my opinion to have Mrs. Seifred you had to be very lucky and here’s why….

One day of 8th grade I felt like everything was going wrong. My father was deployed, my grades were down, and I just felt depressed. I felt like with anyone’s words nothing was going to change my mood. Mrs. Seifred came down to lunch and noticed I wasn’t myself. She told me to get my lunch and to sit with her. I again, knew for sure that no one was changing the mood I was in, but somehow she did. Her dad had also been deployed when she was around my age, so she had lots of stories to relate to how I was feeling . She definitely knew how to handle it. From that moment, she was like a life coach. From there on I felt like we had a bond; I felt like she cared about me more and how I was doing to become more successful.


She made sure you had fun in every class and that you left with a smile on your face. The only time I didn’t, is when she moved me away from my friends or moved my friends away from me. Really all she was trying to do was get us to be respectful and responsible for our own actions. In reality, all I was doing was letting my grade go down by not paying attention. After class I went up to talk to Mrs. Seifred about why my grade was going down. She said, “I think you are capable of anything you put your mind to Mr. Bolin, whether it’s getting straight A’s or doing what’s best for you in life.” What she was getting at was… I needed to move away from all the people that distracted me, and I needed to pay attention. She said it will be worth it in the end, so I took that advice to my advantage and moved away from everyone that distracted me.

About three weeks later that D came up to an B+ in almost every class. She proved to me that by paying attention and taking responsibility for my own actions without necessarily always having someone to tell you, can make a big difference in how things turn out. I still use this in every one of my classes today. This is solid proof that fooling around can wait. Every bit of advice Ms. Seifred gave to me, I used to my advantage and still do!

A lot of the problems I was having Mrs. Seifred could always relate to; She seemed to always have a story to tell. I told her all I wanted to do was get into DMA. (Delaware Military Academy). Mrs. Seifred said keep moving in the right direction and I’m sure your hard work will get you in without a problem. 3rd marking period I had a very high B in her class approximately .9 off of an A. I needed that A to get on honor roll, but she wouldn’t give it to me; I was disappointed at the time. I thought I would ask her why she wouldn’t give me the A. She explained that she knew I was working hard, but how important it is to start out strong from the beginning. This was not a punishment she explained but a lesson to always live by.


Mrs. Seifred has made a big impact on how I handle things today and how I work for them. I am now a distinguished honors student at the Delaware Military Academy thanks to Mrs. Seifred’s advice and all my hard work. I know that almost anything is possible as long as you “ put your mind to it”. She will always play a part in my life she’s one of the reasons why I work so hard to reach my goals. If it wasn’t for her, I don’t know if I’d be where I am now. That’s why I took the time to write this to let her know what an impact she had on my life. Thanks, Mrs. Seifred! Your are my Educator of the year!