The Worst Three Years by Anna

The Worst Three Years by Anna - January 2025 Scholarship Essay

Middle school was the worst three years of my life. Between terrible friends, my changing body, my family struggles, and the actual schoolwork, grades 6-8 were a nightmare. Middle school was the worst three years of my life, but there was one person who made my life bearable. Mr. Chatel was a teacher I was lucky enough to have for most of seventh and eighth grade. He changed my perspective on life in so many ways and I am so grateful to have him in my life.
I’ve always been one of the “good students”—perfect grades, a long list of extracurriculars, and big plans for my future. My parents always pushed me to be the best I could be and eventually, my success was no longer celebrated because it had become an expectation. There was a day in seventh grade when I came into Mr. Chatel’s classroom with tears in my eyes because my English grade was too low for my standards. I’ll never forget the way he chuckled when I told him what was wrong before saying, “Don’t worry too much, you’re a good person and it’s not because you have straight A’s.” I began to realize that I was more than my report card and then I felt a slight lift from the pressure my parents had put on me. Mr. Chatel cared about me as a person, not just as a student and not just because of my grades.
To put it simply, I did not have friends in middle school. There were a couple girls I got along with pretty well, but they liked each other more and I always felt I was third-wheeling. Not only did I have no friends, I was frequently bullied for a wide range of reasons and I was very anxious at school. I always wanted to go home and I was so afraid of what new mean things would be said about me or done to me that day. As I struggled through my days, I found that Mr. Chatel’s class was a safe space for me. If anything was ever going wrong or someone was being mean, he shut it down right away. I knew I would be okay eventually because if I could find a safe space in the hell that middle school was, I could find a safe space anywhere. People like Mr. Chatel exists all over, creating positive environments wherever they can. This knowledge, that truly good people with the goal of helping others are out there, gave me the hope I needed to keep going. I decided to pursue a career in education so that I can be one of those people and create these safe environments for my students.
My favorite part of Mr. Chatel’s class was what he called “Inspirational Wednesdays”, when he would play a video to get us past the hardest day of the week. Usually the videos were fun, like a clip from a comedy show or a music video from the 80’s, but he used these as a way to teach us life lessons. Some important things I learned on random Wednesdays in eighth grade include “Always be kind because more people will notice than you think” and “If you work hard enough on yourself, you’ll notice that you don’t have to worry about what other people think”. A frequently requested rewatch video in my class was Survivor’s “Eye of the Tiger” music video. I still use this song to hype myself up and to remember that with enough hard work, I am truly capable of anything.
Middle school shaped me as a person more than I realized at the time. The bad experiences have stayed with me, but there were also so many good things to be learned as well. Mr. Chatel taught me that working hard and staying humble was the best way to go through this life. I don’t think I could thank him enough for showing me that I do have value as a person and that I can achieve great things. Mr. Chatel believed in me so that I could believe in myself and I would not be here today if he hadn’t. Unlike a lot of teachers, he cared about me as a human being and to this day he asks me how I’m doing. Middle school was the worst three years of my life, but it was worth it because of Mr. Chatel’s class.