Picking someone who influenced your life isn’t an easy task. I have learned many things in life, but one person taught me something incredible. Even though the person I nominate isn’t a teacher, he is a devoted, dedicated, and dependable educator. I nominate my middle school principal Jay Posick for teaching me to never give up even when life is at its roughest.

October of eighth grade, a nasty virus was going around the school. Since a majority of the kids were already sick, I was bound to catch it myself. But when I caught it, the virus turned into something more. I ended up missing two months of school and risked getting held back. With the help of my middle school principal Mr. Posick, I graduated eighth grade.

When you’re home sick for an extensive period, it can be difficult to go back to school. But Mr. Posick, eased me back into things. He put me in a room where there weren’t any kids telling me, “I thought you were dead.” Eventually, I became as gallant as Merida from the Disney film Brave, ready to return to normal classes. He assisted walking me to and from my classes -- I was also allowed to leave school early, avoiding the rush of students. Mr. Posick understood how uncomfortable I felt returning to school and didn’t rush going back into things -- instead, he made me feel serene and was kind to me even if I was apprehensive.

After I went back into my normal routine, I realized I missed so much school that I might not be able to graduate. My grades were awful and my knowledge from the past year was vacant. There was no way I would be able to go to high school next fall. In the beginning of June, I found out I got to graduate with my class, but I had to do two and a half months of summer school. I had to spend three hours a day working on Language Arts and Social Studies, reporting my progress to Mr. Posick every few days. At any other time, I would have been devastated to go to school over the summer, but somehow it was a gift. Mr. Posick saw potential and determination in me, allowing me to graduate and move on from middle school.

I nominate Jay Posick because he not only cares for the students, but he also wanted to see me succeed and grow as a person. Without Mr. Posick, I would have had to repeat eighth grade and leave my friends of nine years behind. He is a devoted principal at Merton Intermediate Middle School and invested his time to see me succeed.