Math has always been a difficult subject for me to grasp, but one that I enjoyed immensely.  When I walked into the math room my senior year, awaiting to be greeted by a new math teacher, I crossed my fingers that I wouldn’t be viewed as the “dumb one” of the class once again.   I hoped the teacher wouldn’t recognize the uncanning physical similarities of me and my straight A sister and create a preconceived notion that I will be just like her. 
              When I sat down in class, I was surprised by what was in front of me. Mr. Hessler was not your typical nerdy, number-loving, looking guy. His tough, stern, normal looking exterior was intimidating at first, but it also drew my interest. I knew on day one that he would be a math teacher like no other.
             I kept my head down the first week until one day Mr. Hessler directly addressed me. We were discussing how in the future we could not be so reliant on our calculators, and how in college, we would not have the opportunity to use them like we do in high school.
             I glanced up and made eye contact with him and that’s when he asked, “What does your sister use in Madison?”
             I was taken aback. He had not once given me the impression that he recognized me as Megan’s sister — he never formed expectations of me based off of my relation to my sister. He had high expectations of me, but nonetheless they were not biased.
             I confirmed to the class that Mr. Hessler was right, in Madison they do not allow calculators. Mr. Hessler hadn’t made the assumption that I would be just like my sister and that put me at ease. It allowed me to feel safe in the classroom and to make mistakes without feeling inwardly scolded.
              Mr. Hessler never disregarded student’s answers — even when the answers were wrong. Instead he would redirect them by saying “Yes, but…” or “Okay you’re on the right track...”.
              The lingo he used added humor to the classroom. When students walked into Mr. Hessler’s classroom they knew for the next forty-five minutes they were going to be entertained. Mr. Hessler created a comfortability that allowed him to banter with the students without offending them. His sarcastic humor and witty comebacks — on just about everything — made his teaching intriguing. He had a passion in his eyes when he talked about numbers that drew the students to listen and learn. His passion made me strive to do better in the class in order to make not only myself, but him proud.
             Mr. Hessler’s lesson plans focused on preparing students for their futures.  He frequently made the statement “You’ll have something like this on your placement test!” which made everyone perk up in their seats and pay close attention. Students regularly heard Mr. Hessler say, “Okay, for all you engineers out there…” or “For all you business people…”. He went out of his way to make it known what sort of problems would be used in specific career fields. It made the class feel valued, as he was preparing us for our futures.
             One of my favorite attributes about Mr. Hessler was his sincerity. He genuinely cared about his students and their well being — not only in the classroom, but outside of it as well. He set aside his lunch periods in order to explain the difficult material until I felt comfortable and confident.  He asked about Megan and what she was recently up to. He yelled frequently to me while walking out of the classroom, “Tell your sister I said hi!”  I loved the fact that Mr. Hessler took interest in my personal life along with my school life.
             As he is an alumni of Eau Claire, I talked to Mr. Hessler about my desire to attend the school.   I spoke to him about my concern for getting in and he reassured me. When I finally received my acceptance letter from Eau Claire, I was excited to share my news.
             So the next day as I was packing up after class , I paused and looked up at Mr. Hessler. “Mr. Hessler guess what?” I excitedly expressed.
            “What?” he replied.
            “Guess what Mr. Hessler...” I gave him a look trying to imply that I was referring to Eau Claire.
            “You got in?!” Mr. Hessler immediately knew what I was going to say by just a four words. “I’m so proud of you!”
             Mr. Hessler’s genuine excitement for my acceptance made me so appreciative. He is the only teacher I feel legitimately cared about me as a person and as a student. It was refreshing to have someone cheering me on and wanting to see me succeed. And I know I wasn’t the only one receiving this enthusiasm from him.
              Mr. Hessler has the ability to create expectations for each individual student — not having preconceived notions created a comfortability in in his classroom. This comfortability put me at ease and strengthened my confidence. The worry of being viewed as the “dumb one” no longer crossed my mind. Mr. Hessler’s passion, dedication and humor for not only the subject but also the students made him a teacher like no other.