I
could sit here and tell you my parents and grandparents impacted my life
greatly, but I think that’s a give-in. I looked a little further than just my
immediate family and decided on three people that I feel genuinely helped to
mold me into the person I am now.
My
third grade teacher at Fred Williams Elementary, Mrs. Mastriano. From day one
in her class, I despised everything about her and it. Her class room was
unbelievably tidy and didn’t seem welcoming, especially to a third grader. She
sat there on her stool in front of us as she introduced herself. She was a
fairly large woman, in her sixties or seventies, with pasty skin, curly short,
blond and gray hair, and she always wore khaki pants that didn’t cover her
socks. I remember looking at her more like a drill sergeant rather than a
teacher. She intimidated me and challenged me with her high expectations; after
all I was only 8. I always begged my mom to let me stay home. I would pretend
to be sick constantly to avoid going to school. As we walked in the hall ways,
she would make us walk in a single file line and chant 123 hut! And if anyone
was out of order they were scolded. At lunch time, while all the other kids
were chatting and laughing with one another, she shadowed over us and made sure
we told the school cooks please and thank you before and after every serving.
Despite her lack of leniency, I look back on what the point of all of it was
and I must admit I’m extremely thankful for it all. She showed me how to
respect others, how to be grateful, she introduced me to manners, and how to
show thanks.
The
second person that greatly impacted my life was not a very appealing or nice
person, through my point of view. I’ll call her C, since I’ve chosen not to
disclose her true name. I met C at 15 years old when I was in high school my sophomore
year and she made it known immediately that she wasn’t huge on the idea of
being my friend. She had barely learned my name and already the rumors rolled
out of her mouth. She was a very large girl, with short curly brown hair, a big
fat nose that dominated her face (really! there is no over exaggeration in this
statement), a double chin, and she always breathed very heavily and never looked
you in the eye when talking to you. We had the same group of friends in school
and outside of school so I think she eventually learned to forcefully accept me
because everyone else in the group had. She made my life a living hell for
years upon years and no matter how many times I confronted her about the rumors
she would deny every bit of it and I would forgive her. I finally found the
courage to cut her out of my life entirely when I turned 22. I would love to
thank her for teaching me to stand up for myself, teaching me to speak up, and
how not to stress the small stuff. Her actions taught me how to be a genuine friend
to the friends I have, because I knew I wanted to be nothing like her.
The
last person I’ve had the privilege of having in my life is my good friend
Anthony. He’s a super chill individual, almost 6 foot, dark brown hair, tan
skin, thin, fit, tattoos, honey colored eyes, large lips, nose and ears, which
may seem odd but aren’t because it all really fits him. He had the patience to
teach me how to play the drums and he introduced me to animals. My family was
never big on pets so I didn’t grow up knowing how to love an animal. When I met
Anthony he introduced me to his dogs and cat, however, I must admit I was a
little standoffish, they eventually grew on me. Now because of him I am able to
play an instrument, I adopted a dog and named him Ernie, I have a fat cat named
Dee, a kitten named Clam Chowder, two turtles one named Stella and the other
named Timmy, and at one point I even had a bunny named Ollie.
