Most Influential Person Research Paper

What makes a person significant? This is the question I struggled with when I started brainstorming ideas for this paper. I racked my brain for a profound moment that I shared with someone important to me and I came up empty. Part of me almost felt disappointed. Why couldn’t I come up with anything relatively interesting to discuss? After much contemplation, I decided that I needed to change my way of thinking. I was looking for some extraordinary, life changing moment, but perhaps my extraordinary person was present in the most ordinary of places. Ms. May, now known to most people as Mrs. Vernier, was my middle school student advisory teacher, as well as my sixth grade language arts teacher. This woman taught me so much more than grammar and …show more content…
May actually came three years after she stopped being my teacher. I walked into Caribou Coffee one afternoon with the intention of doing my homework. However, my plans took a slight detour as soon as I saw Ms. May sitting at one of the tables. A quick hello turned into quite a lengthy conversation. I had even neglected to order my coffee until I had been in the place for well over half an hour. As we amicably engaged in small talk, I couldn’t help but think about how much I missed being able to talk with her everyday. Our conversation flowed more like two old friends catching up instead of a teacher talking to her former student. We began talking about what we were up to those days. My explanation included the usual dance, school and homework schedule that had overtaken my high school years. I was delighted to hear that Ms. May and her husband had bought a house in New London-Spicer, although I worried what that may mean for her future. I asked if she had any plans to look for a job closer to home and she replied yes, as soon as she completed her Master’s program that spring. Even though that made me a little sad, I excitedly jumped to the next question of children. That was met with a more hesitant response, but hopefully in the near future she said. Of course the natural inquiries of any adult when talking to a junior consists of college plans. It was then that I told her I had aspirations to be a teacher someday as well. What I did not …show more content…
May has been a great inspiration of mine. She always treated each student like they were her prized pupil. Following her example, I try and make sure that I never judge anyone. I want to make everyone feel important, whether they’re my best friend or a total stranger. Ms. May was also such a positive person. Ever since I had her as my teacher, I have made it a personal goal of mine to be the bright light in someone else’s day. I hold the belief that simply smiling at another person can make the difference between a horrible day and a good day. In the end, I think it was Ms. May’s passion for teaching that really drove me to finally decide to become a teacher. I want to make a difference in someone’s life the way she has made a difference in mine. Having that discussion with her at Caribou only confirmed that. Who knows, maybe someday I will summon up the guts to send this paper to her as a thank you. Because goodness knows, she deserves it and so much