Day 10 of writing about my friends: I was a real disappointment to most of my high school teachers for one reason or another. It wasnt because I was overly stupid (I graduated HS with a 3.3 GPA ... just enough to get my honor cords at graduation.) It wasnt even that I was that much of a pain in the butt (like I am now.) It was because I was not like my brothers. My oldest brother, Jeff, is just hyper-intelligent ... like freaky smart, and he was also pretty quiet and well behaved. He did excellent in all of his classes. The middle brother, John, was nearly as smart, and quite a bit more social, but equally well behaved and liked by all of his instructors. When I made it to HS, all of my instructors would be very happy to have another Hautala in their class, expecting great things from me, and assuming I would ace every test like my brothers did most of the time. It usually didnt take them very long to realize that I was not like my brothers. Its not like I was doing poorly in any of my classes, and I actually did quite well in some of them, but by comparison, I was a disappointment. Some teachers were better than others at hiding their disappointment in me. Most would just ignore me for the most part, but some would actually pull me aside and tell me to my face that they expected so much more from me, not because I wasnt trying as hard as I could and living up to my potential (and there would be some truth in that statement), but because every other Hautala they had taught received an A out of their class, and they couldnt understand why I wasnt. Michael Poindexter, was an exception to this pattern. Instead of putting me down for not doing as well as my brothers, he would encourage me and tell me what I was doing well. I would turn in a paper, and he would actually read parts or the entire thing to the class as to how a paper should be written, (by no means did he love all of my papers, but the few in which I did well on, he would make a point in letting me, and everyone else, know that I did something well.) I remember one day I was walking down the hall, and I must have had a dark glow around me because Mr. Poindexter stopped me and asked me what was wrong. I told him that I was just frustrated because most of my teachers would compare me to my brothers, and I usually came up short on those comparisons. He actually made me stop walking and look him in the eye and pay attention as he told me that my life was not about how I compare to others, even my brothers, but what I do with my abilities. He knew I could probably do better than I was doing in my classes if I tried really hard, but he also knew that even if I tried really hard, I still wouldnt do as well as they did, so he told me to try for myself. I was frustrated because no matter how hard I tried, I would not get straight As, but even if I didnt try at all, I would still pass. He let me know that I shouldnt stop trying just because I still might not do outstanding, but that I should try because he could see potential in me. He commented that he thought I was a good writer, so even though I still aint got no goodly grammar, I believe that talk is one of the reasons why I still enjoy writing. He also said he thought I was particularly funny, which surprised me because the day before I thought he was going to kick me out of class for one of my smart ass comments. When I mentioned that, he admitted that it was inappropriate for the class, which was why he had to come down on me, but secretly it was all he could do to stop himself from laughing. He actually encouraged me to develop my humor and use it in my writing. When I doubted my own humor because Im one of those people who can not remember an entire joke to retell later, he pointed out that my spontaneous remarks and my gift for puns made me funny. Thank you Mike for taking the time out of your day to encourage me when I was down. I seriously doubt you remember that conversation, and when you think of the Hautala boys, I imagine you have more memories of the other two, but I must tell you, that when I think back to my time at MMHS, you are one of a select few teachers who I really admire and I thank you for pointing me in a healthy direction.
Posted on: Sat, 10 Jan 2015 06:32:43 +0000
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