The one teacher I will remember most during my high school years is Ms. Tropea. Even as the hair on top of my head turns grey, her teaching style will be forever etched into my mind. Her willingness to help struggling students combined with her positive personality made me eager to attend her class every day.

Ms. Tropea taught me the importance of history; it is not just memorizing facts, dates, or numbers, rather history sheds light on past mistakes. If we do not learn about the past then we are bound to repeat it. For example, I have never experienced anything like the Holocaust, the mass killing of over 6 million Jews. It is crucial to learn about genocides to ensure future generations will be understanding, compassionate, and free from prejudice based on racial differences. By the end of first semester, my preconception that “history is the equivalent of watching paint dry” was completely wiped away from my mind. She somehow made even the most mundane facts seem interesting with a lively, energetic approach to all her lessons.

Ms. Tropea did everything possible to ensure everyone in the class did well. I never realized how much she wanted all of us to be successful. The evidence is simple: the class average ended up much higher than I originally expected. Perhaps all the students were naturally smart or excelled in history. However, her openness to all our concerns boosted our confidence, which is the reason why our marks skyrocketed. Giving credit where credit is due, I admire her as an educator because she responded to all our emails, all our questions, and all our demands outside of class time despite the fact she had a family to take care of. I have to say she ranks up there as being my all-time favourite teacher. That is no hyperbole.

With such an optimistic outlook on life, the ambiance in the room felt incredible. It really felt like magic. I could be having the worst day ever and then I would leave her class forgetting just moments ago I was stuck in a nightmare. From the day I walked into the classroom, I knew right off the bat that I will be interested in history like never before. Out of all the courses I took during my grade 10 year, I enjoyed learning about Canadian history the most. To be honest I was not the biggest fan of the subject to begin with. Half a year ago, I did not have the slightest clue as to how World War 1 started. If you ask me that question today, I can recite the answer like a well-written textbook.

As a final point, Ms. Tropea deserves to be honoured as an outstanding educator for all the reasons listed above and much more. My hope is future students will realize the relevance in learning about history. I can genuinely say history is far from boring with an incredible teacher like her. Thank you, Ms. Tropea.