In honor of an awesome mentor and friend

        Hi everyone,
Here is my second entry for the month of April. I wanted to make it a little different and write about someone who really impacted my life. When I entered my Sophomore year of High School in 2003 I met my new special education teacher. Her name was Mrs Waybright, at first I was shy, very shy at that and not sure of what to think about this new person in my life. I had a hard time with losing my prior special ed teacher, so adjusting to someone new wasn't going to be easy. I wasn't going to allow my shyness get in my way of working with what was a new teacher. I knew I had MCAS coming up, let me tell you I wasn't looking forward to it, not one bit.
   After a little while of getting to know Mrs Waybright, we really connected and she quickly began to be someone who believed in my abilities, that I could conquer anything, and be anything I wanted to be. I passed the English portion of the MCAS, but unfortunately the Math portion was more of a mountain to climb, and one that I would ultimately conquer. After failing the first few times to pass, in the spring of my senior year a few weeks before graduation I fondly remember going to the stair well to head to her office. But she was already at the top of the stairs waiting to tell me the good news. Of course I didn't have a clue as to what she wanted to tell me, My first thought was that I was in trouble. LOL. But when she told me I passed the math MCAS I was ecstatic.
   I basically paraded around the school telling all my teachers I passed. I was beyond happy. Of course this was 10 years ago now, so it may seem weird that I'm mentioning this same thing for the millionth time, but it's something I will never forget. Of course graduation came and went. I still keep in touch with Deb as I now am allowed to call her and we catch up over coffee when she has time in her still very busy schedule. Deb I have to say you are my hero. If not for you, if it was someone else working with me, I don't think I would have believed in my abilities.
     Thanks for believing in me and never giving up on me, it means a lot to me that I can still email, call, and let you know how I've grown and all the exciting things I've done, and continue to do. Your passion for your work is amazing. To know that you care about your students and continue to change lives is wonderful. I hope to make a difference in someone's life as you have made in mine. I am so blessed that you are in my life, and that you are so willing to continue to mentor me, and to offer me advice. I am the luckiest kid in the world really. I'm proud to call you my hero. I hope everyone likes this new entry, tell your teachers, whether past, present, how they impacted your life. It's important that they hear it. They always appreciate it! I want to make a difference one day.