From September 2023 to January 2024, I learned the unimaginable, I never would have envisioned that someone who was in my life for such a short period of time could impact me so significantly. As I was going through the hardest months of my life, Ms. Charles never failed to try her hardest to support me and motivate me to keep going. At Arrowhead Union High School, my Spanish teacher, Ms. Charles, truly changed my life.

During these months, starting my senior year, I was coming out of a mentally challenging summer, and an overly difficult first three years of high school. It took everything out of me to try and not lose hope, and give my final year my all. However, I quickly got caught up with my anxiety and began to miss countless days of school. It’s not everyday that I will meet a teacher that is so understanding and empathetic about the challenge of living with a mental illness and reaching my potential in school, but Ms. Charles was that person for me.

I never once found myself frightened to talk with Ms. Charles about trying to catch up on schoolwork, or just simply what I was going through. Sitting down to talk with her in her office, I always felt heard. I felt like I could explain my circumstances to her with no judgment, and receive a second chance to show her how much of a strong student I could truly be. It was both refreshing and eye opening to see how supportive and compassionate a teacher could be.

Ms. Charles empathized with me just enough to help me feel not alone, and still push me to keep going. Even with the numerous absences in her class, I felt that I had learned more of the Spanish language than ever before as she genuinely cared for each and every one of her students and got us all to interact with each other, strengthening our skills everyday. With her style of teaching I began to realize how much of the language I knew through talking with my peers, and it inspired me to want to take my knowledge and use it in college—hopefully by minoring in Spanish. With this new found inspiration and confidence, I would love to study abroad or even live in a Spanish speaking country one day.

Although I only had Ms. Charles for my first semester of Spanish this year, I will never forget her impact she had on me, and I am more motivated than ever to reach my full potential in Spanish second semester as well. I will always remember how Ms. Charles’ kind and caring heart, probably without her knowing, changed the way I view my life.