Friends, of course, fit in to this category. Certain people I met in my mission like Bro. Bassie or Alma Gamboa. There have been several teachers throughout the years that have had a lasting impact on my life and have shaped much of who I am today.
Mr. Miner is one of those teachers.
I walked in to his classroom my first day of high school. He didn't smile a whole ton but I didn't think he was mean. He had this sort of presence, the kind of presence that commands respect and doesn't take crap.
I knew I was going to like him because those are the kind of teachers I've always responded to, the ones who have this air of obedience to them, the ones who expect a lot out of you but give you respect in return, the ones who make you work hard but let you see how working hard brings immense success and satisfaction, the ones who ultimately love you as a person and see your potential even before you do.
Mr. Miner is one of those teachers.
I took every one of the classes he offered during my three years in high school. I loved his AP US history class my junior year. I studied so hard for that AP exam and I was confident I was going to get a good grade. The week of the test I got really sick with Crohn's and was in the hospital the day of the exam. Mr. Miner personally called the hospital to reassure me it was all right. He arranged for me to take the make-up exam. I passed with flying colors thanks to him.
My senior year he asked me to be his TA during his free period. When I was supposed to be grading papers, instead I would sit in a chair across from his desk and he's continue to teach me. We talked about wars and about government. He taught me things we didn't have time for in class. That's when my love for all things history and government started to bud.
Mr. Miner is one of those teachers.
That year is when I came to DC for the first time with a group of students and Mr. Miner as our guide. In five days we jam packed everything we could possible do and see in DC. I was enchanted by the city and everything it had to offer. During that trip we met up with one of his former students, a cute girl then studying at George Washington. I thought it was so cool talking to her and hearing her road from Utah Valley to DC. It was then that the idea that I wanted to do the same got into my head and never really left.
See me with the white hat on?
Purple coat right in the middle and my dad just behind me in the green
There I am with the purple coat on again and the nice shades.
When I made the decision to go to BYU-I, I got the class catalog in the mail and as I was browsing through it I found the Political Science courses. They sounded really similar to what Mr. Miner had been teaching me for three years. These courses caught my interest when nothing else in the entire catalog did. I made the decision to study Political Science that very day, before I had ever stepped on the university's campus. I never looked back. Never once did I question if I should study something else. There was nothing else that even held a flame to what I loved learning in my PoliSci classes.
Two years after high school I was preparing to go on my mission. I hadn't talked to Mr. Miner since then. One day I was in the Provo temple waiting for the session to begin when I felt a tap on my shoulder. I looked back to see Mr. Miner, dressed in white like me. We exchanged a quiet hello and he asked me where I was going and offered a congratulations and good luck. He still didn't know the impact he was still having on my life.
Then last April, as I sat in the library one day thinking of all that I'd been through and what I'd accomplished in college, I thought about Mr. Miner once again. I knew I needed to tell him how much I appreciated what he'd done for me in high school. I knew I needed to tell him how his teaching had put me on the course I'm on today. So my mom found his number in the phonebook and I called him up. My heart was racing a little bit. "What am I doing? I haven't talked to this man in six years."
He sounded the same and we chatted for a few minutes. I explained how grateful I was for his early direction and for the person he's made me to be. I explained that I was moving to DC in a few weeks. I was surprised to hear that he was still making his trips to DC with students every year. Then he said, "You know, Hannah, now you can be the person we meet up with when we're there. You can be the role model for the students who don't think it's possible to ever move to a place like DC."
Shivers went through my body. I thought of the girl I'd met on my inaugural trip to DC six years previous. Now I was going to be that girl.
Mr. Miner is just one of those teachers.
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