By Nyk Miller
LifeAtStart.com reporter
I first met Mrs. Mandley a couple years ago when I was placed into her room for testing. In the beginning, I thought she wasn’t the teacher to really have an interest in students that she did not know. That was my thought until she took an interest in my writing, peering over my shoulder. I was always curious about what people thought of my writing, and hearing that she was a really good teacher, I knew it couldn’t hurt to let her read some of it. Her sarcastic criticism saddened me at first, because I was unaware of her personality. I had her room for several of my tests, and one of those tests I took with my best friend. I’ll never forget when we were laughing and watching videos after the test and Mrs. Mandley tells us not to laugh because “Laughing leads to babies.” It’s definitely in my top ten moments at Start.
During SAT testing, she ended up being the teacher in my class and I couldn’t count the amount of times she made me laugh before and after the test, I also remember a couple minutes before the test she had me go run fill up her water bottle, as I sat confused with my pencil thinking about how soon the tested started and if she thought that I didn’t need every possible second to study.
I was more than thrilled when I saw I had journalism this year, while it wasn’t Senior Comp, which I had originally wanted, I knew it was going to be a fun class. That’s why I’m so glad to be writing about this class. No matter my day, how upsetting or great it was, or what overall mood I am in, this class, especially Mrs. Mandley, never ever fails to put a smile on my face and make me laugh. With the holidays, I’ve started to think more than usual about what I’m thankful for, and with what I’ve been going through, I realize that I’m grateful for this class, and the people in it. It’s a class where I have never felt judged, and felt like I could actually speak and be listened to, and it’s a hell of a class to have for senior year, it’s a class that I know I’ll never forget.
So, thank you guys, really.