By: Zachary James Brounstein
Being a student at North Warren Regional High School, I am victim to thinking a teacher is maliciously after me and happy to see me fail. Most students are under the impression that faculty is out to get them, desiring to see them not reach the dreams that maybe the teachers couldn’t reach themselves, but this isn’t the case. I, at least, hope it's not.
In many cases of this strange thinking, the students are either not trying or maybe just too stubborn to ask for help. From experience, I know the gut churning feeling of being wrong and knowing that help is needed. It’s a hard pill to swallow, but sometimes it is necessary. I always found reading and writing to be my most awful areas of school; Every English Teacher was out to get me, and I swore each assignment was made to damage my grade in the class. Yet, at the end of the day, these teachers were challenging me. And even now, I can confidently admit that they did teach me. They showed me more things than I ever needed to know and it was all because I accepted I needed help. I acknowledged my failure and was sick of that feeling a bad grade brought me, so I did what I had to and opened up to my seventh grade english teacher. She wasn’t the villain in my hero story and actually became one of my best friends!
My interview with Mr. Bradley, the new Mathematics Teacher (Yes, the one with the man bun.), reminded me of my seventh grade English Teacher. I sat down with Mr. Bradley on Wednesday, the twelfth of September. He’d only been teaching at the school for almost two weeks and I was already pestering the man with an interview. Although some people may disagree with posing questions about a teacher’s private life, I found the experience as a whole, eye opening. I felt that when speaking with Mr. Bradley, he wasn't afraid to share his personal information or even deny answering one of my questions. This was a surprise to me because some of my talking points may have been pushing my boundaries, but after all, that is the art of journalism.
“Have you ever been through a traumatic experience?” I had asked him in the almost too quiet media center. “If so, how’d you grow from it?”
He answered honestly, talking of past experiences he had with loss while still offering up the learning curve and wisdom that comes with the incidents; “Being close to the people I love helped me through those sort of things.” After hearing it from him, the words resonated and stuck with me. It seems strange, but hearing the different stories that people have to tell can really show you who they are. It can make a seemingly quiet gentlemen seem like a ball of wisdom. It all happened with one question.
Regardless of the question just posed, our interview wasn’t all seriousness. When asked about any loved ones, Mr. Bradley was quick to tell me, “Yeah, I guess, I’m technically single. I live with my cat, Dillon-named after Bob Dillon- and my cat Bella, who I didn’t name, but is named after Bellatrix from the Harry Potter series.” I was pleased to hear that he is a big fan of the infamous book series. But all aside, I had come to know a lot about Mr. Bradley in one short, simple interview. He, and many of the other teachers working at North Warren, aren’t monsters maliciously failing you. They’re real people with lives and stories to tell. This past year, Mr. Bradley had taken his favorite journey. Starting from San Diego, he backpacked (with a van) up the coast stopping in different places and sleeping on different beaches. He took in the amazing views as he traveled all the way up to Oregon. This experience for him was amazing, as it should be for anyone, and hearing him tell of the adventure is what makes me relate to him, as you should to him, or any other teacher in North Warren.
We are all people with different lives and stories and experiences to tell about. We each have our own wisdom and shouldn’t be afraid to ask for someone else's. So, finish that homework assignment you might procrastinating from, or maybe grade those papers sitting in the corner of your desk, but tomorrow come to school ready to be you. Don’t look at your teachers in fear of their curses, but instead be open and try to start a conversation. Because at the end of the day, they are here to help you learn and teach you to be the best you you can be.
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