I walked into the hot classroom, beads of sweat forming on my forehead. The rumors spun around like a never-ending carousel and my temples throbbed with all of the what-ifs my brain could imagine. People had told me she was strict, and that’s all I really knew about her. I let it get to my head, and I embraced the pit in my stomach. I couldn’t tell if anyone else was nervous, but I sure was. I hadn’t had a good science teacher in a few years, and I anticipated this year to be the same. I was used to boring teachers who didn’t really seem interested in their jobs and droned on and on. It was extremely upsetting because for my career, I would have to take many science courses. I sat down quietly and awaited everyone else in my class.

I prepared for the worst as she began speaking about how the course was going to go and what we would be covering. I was pleasantly surprised, though. Her voice filled the room and she was full of excitement of the year to come. She described thrilling projects and labs, and showed us some interesting things she found outside, like a snake skin. I already liked her, and I could tell it was going to be my favorite class.

As the year progressed, she remained organized, on-task, and I loved showing up every day. I liked not always knowing what was going to happen, because that was a part of the fun. We talked about a wide-range of things such as cell differentiation, atoms, osmosis, lipids, proteins, nucleic acids, cell cycles, and we have so much more to cover still, like cell respiration and genetics. It all sounds boring reading it, but she adds her flair to it to make it interesting, which I need. Learning something just by lecturing or giving us boring worksheets doesn’t help me learn, and definitely is not how Jennifer Gracie teaches!

My dream is to go into the medical field, whether it be medical research, anesthesiology, or forensic research. For any of these careers, I need to take many science courses and I have to like it. I never really liked science, and I am so lucky to have such an amazing teacher to help me love the subject. Her radiant energy and love of teaching inspires me to pursue my dreams and have fun doing so. She personalizes her lessons and throws in jokes to keep it all interesting, which helps everyone. I also look up to her because of her attitude and enthusiasm, and outlook on life. I wish everyone could take her class and experience her lesson plans and the extraordinary topics we discuss.