Autobiography Stephanie Farrell “Smile every chance you get. Not because life has been easy, perfect, or exactly as you had anticipated, but because you choose to be happy and grateful for all the good things you do have and all the problems you know you don't have” -Unknown This quote relates to me because during middle school i was not the best at math. My seventh grade teacher changed my entire outlook, not just with math, but with the rest of my life. She is the reason i am here now wanting to become a teacher. Throughout school,i was always behind in math. I never wanted to do my homework, because i felt like it was just busy work. When i entered the seventh grade i was put into Mrs. Holman’s math class. I went into the year not wanting to have anything to do with math At the end of the year, i had completely different outlook on math. Mrs. Holman is the reason i am here today. Mrs. Holman is the teacher that got me back on track with math. She was always willing to come in early and stay late to help if you had any questions. Her classroom was laid back atmosphere, which was great learning environment. She had us do a lot of hands on activities. My favorite one was when we made a candy car, we had to find the dimensions and make a car roll down a ramp to see which car would go farthest. The car that went the farthest won a prize. Mrs. Holman is able to connect with her students in many ways. She put each of her students birthdays up on the monthly calendar and you are able to pick a prize out of the prize box on your birthday. By doing this, the students connect with her on a special level. They feel like she cares about them. She also allowed extra credit, which was a fun extra credit, that did not feel like math, but was math oriented. When i left the seventh grade, i was back on track with math. I was where i should have been, i was now excited to go to math and this is when I thought of becoming a teacher. My junior year of high school, i had the opportunity to tutor in a middle school classroom. I automatically asked Mrs.Holman if i would be able to tutor in her classroom. I loved every minute of this experience; because she was able to show me what being a teacher entitled. I was allowed to work one on one with students, as well as with small groups of students. Tutoring showed me how rewarding it is to have an impact on the students. Today, if i see one of the students that i tutored they will stop and say “hi” to me. After this experience, i knew that i wanted to be a teacher. I wanted to be able to change students’ lives like Mrs. Holman was able to do for me. Having Mrs. Holman as a teacher helped me realize what i want to do in my classroom. I would like to have up-beat leason, a relaxed yet productive learning environment, and being a teacher that the students know they can come to for help. I am hoping i will be able to change student’s views about math, like Mrs. Holman was able to do for me.