All my life, I listened to what my parents told me to believe, I listened to what my teachers told me was right and wrong, and I listened to what my peers said.  But not anymore, all thanks to my junior year Sociology teacher, Mr. Scharrer.
Mr. Scharrer was the most quirky, nerdy, and annoyingly happy teacher I’ve ever had. He wore the same sweater every Friday and has had a mustache for years. But, it worked for him. No matter what kind of day I was having, he always managed to make it better.
He would start each class by asking for current events, and everyone would raise their hands and share something going on in the world. This would always spark a debate that usually lasted the whole class period. Somehow, Mr. Scharrer would steer the debate in the direction of the lesson we were learning about that week. I would leave his class a little smarter every day.
Mr. Scharrer was unique. He hated the colors his room was painted so he decided he was going to have us paint his walls. So, at the end of the year, everyone in the class got to pick a topic that we learned about that year and make a picture to describe that topic. Sounds normal, right? Well, he took it a step further; we then had to paint that picture we came up with on his walls. I’ll admit it really did liven up the room a little when it was covered with high school students paintings.
Mr. Scharrer was a father, a husband, and an amazing teacher. He wasn’t just the guy barking at us in class everyday. He let us learn for ourselves. He taught us so much about current events and sociology and everything that a sociology teacher should teach us.  But that’s not why he was my favorite teacher. He was my favorite teacher because he taught me to think for myself, to come up with my own beliefs, and not just follow what everyone else tells me to believe.
I still listen to what my teachers say, and I still agree with almost everything my parents say.  But, not because they tell me to and not because I think they’re right.  I agree with them because Mr. Scharrer taught me enough to be able to know enough to think for myself, and if I don’t know enough about a topic I should learn enough to form my own opinion.