There is always a moment that one can look back upon and think to themselves “Yeah, that was definitely a turn for the better”. This particular moment happens to span the course of an entire school year.  So, it is the summer before sophomore year, and all of the Aviators of Sycamore High School have received their schedules online. There is always a teacher’s name that sticks out every year and this fateful year it turns out to be the Mrs. Allen.    

One of the hardest but most influential teachers at Sycamore. Later in the day, my sister Cathleen, called and asked, “Do you have her?”. Immediately, I knew what she was talking about because she had also had Mrs. Allen her sophomore and senior year. Cathleen then began telling me about all the things to be prepared for; the copious notes, harsh grading on papers, mandatory writing reviews, presentations and yelling. After hearing all of this I began thinking “Oh no, I don’t know if I’ll be able to do this.”

I step into a room on the first day that is filled with posters from books, quotes on the walls from famous authors, tan boring paint and the typical poster explaining that listen and silent are spelled with the same letters. A few minutes later, Mrs. Allen walks in; short 4’11” woman with white hair, red lipstick, and dangly earrings. She put her things down on her desk and simply began to laugh and from that point on, my literacy as both a reader and a writer would both improve.   

We can fast-forward a few weeks into the first quarter when our first paper is due. Throughout these weeks, Mrs. Allen had given us great advice on how to compose a proper literary analysis. My ability to pick out certain details from text and be able to explain what is happening or what it is foreshadowing or what it is symbolic for had increased immensely. In other words, I thought I was prepared to write this analysis and get a good grade; I was wrong.   

The class received their papers back, and when I got mine all that stood out were the mass of red marks throughout the page and the score in the top margin, a 72%. Immediately, I looked around the room and saw the faces of students that had been defeated by their grades. Most of the corrections turned out to be grammatical errors and not expanding enough on a statement. Thankfully, Mrs. Allen gives chances to revise and turn in a better draft of the paper.