Coming into my senior year I was not feeling very hopeful about my math class at Arrowhead High school. It had been said that Calculus AB was a difficult class and that it is easy to do poorly in it. At first, when walking into the class, I was at first confused by Mr. Hessler’s humor and catchphrases, but soon I realized that I was looking forward to coming to the class and learning, rather than just trying to survive even though the class is hard.

I have noticed that over time even though the class is extremely difficult, Mr. Hessler has created a fun environment that is easy to look forward to returning to every day and trying it again. If there was a lesser teacher in this role the class would become miserable and stressful quickly, as it requires a lot of effort and concentration.

I remember one day, we were counting squares in order to integrate a function, and Mr. Hessler was pretending to want the correct answer down to the hundredths place, which of course is impossible to count with the naked eye. I was almost in tears laughing as he told the girl in the front row that she was a “Schmuck”, similar to the “Schmucks at Kettle Moraine” and that if she wanted to be average that she should transfer schools. The girl was as well, not to worry. Everyone has fun in Hessler’s class, without exception.

I have struggled greatly with the material, but I never get down or frustrated with myself because of the encouraging atmosphere that has been developed in Hessler’s classroom. We also have math themes every Friday that unify us and provide us a way to have partners on quizzes, which is greatly helpful as well. Mr. Hessler also keeps track and remembers which scores are good for certain people and if he notices that you have a better score on a test you receive a smiley face on your test. It made it really easy to keep trying through all the hard material.

I have had several good math teachers over the course of my education, but none of them have gotten me looking forward to coming to math as the highlight of my school day like Mr. Hessler. I hope to go to college for engineering, and so math is important to me, but in previous years I just went to math class to learn the material and try and survive. In the present day, I find myself being motivated and driven to be more consistent and accurate in my work.

My freshman year of high school, I had a math teacher that would make us teach ourselves the material and then get mad at us for not understanding or asking too many questions. Questions are always welcome in his class and if he does not understand the question he takes it as an opportunity for everyone to learn a little more. Never has he made anyone feel lesser for being confused, which I greatly appreciate. Having a teacher who is always as uplifting and benevolent as Mr. Hessler is something from my high school experience that I will be grateful for years from now. Thank you Mr. Hessler.