Devane

Ezra DeVane
Dr. Blair
WRDS 1103
September 12th, 2023

Who is the best teacher I have ever had?

Imagine walking into the building your freshman year as a new student at a new school.

You don't really know anybody, you don't know where you're going, and all around you it feels

like you're being hawked down by the preying eyes of the social population ready to eat you

alive. All the different emotions that you're feeling are getting to you mentally, and you're having

a hard time deciding if you want to branch out or sit back and observe your peers. This was me

in my 9th grade year. Everything around me was new and different, and I remember feeling as if I

was going to have a hard time adjusting. This was until I saw my third period- choir. I began to

feel elated! Singing is something I have excelled at my entire life, and I was excited to have

something that was familiar to me. I walked to my third period with a smile on my face, ready to

excel. Once I arrive, I sit down in angst at what is to come. I see my peers walk in and everyone

is happy and smiling. From this, I get the notion that this class must be mostly chill, fun, and laid

back. I begin to drop my shoulders and relax a little bit from the stress that had me in its grip.

That is when I see him. Mr. C is a teacher I remember seeing at orientation. He was a bigger guy,

dressed business casually, and always had on a tie. His hairline was receding, and his eyes had

bags under them. His voice was so deep it boomed through the hallways as he spoke. I sat in fear

as I was unknowing that I had him as a teacher. “Why him? Why does he have to teach the one

class I feel I can excel in out the gate?” I ponder. I knew this was going to be a horrible semester;

however, I could not be more wrong. Mr. C was my choir teacher throughout my four years of

high school. I loved him as a teacher, man, and friend. It is hard to find a teacher of this caliber,
 Devane

but I can say that I am lucky to have him as a mentor. He is definitely the best teacher I have

ever had due to his humor, knowledge of what he taught, and his compassion and love for his

pupils.

In school, it is very hard to find a teacher who even remotely has the same sense of

humor as their students. This could be due to the age gap, or even the professionalism required to

be a teacher causing humor to be put on the back burner. This never seemed to be a problem for

Mr.C, as he never really had to crack a joke, he was just naturally funny. I had him for four years

straight, and I cannot remember one face to face class we had that I didn’t have a good laugh,

receive good vibes, and just all around had a great time. For example, he tells a lot of strange

stories. One day we came into class, and he was doing something so strange. Mr. C was sitting

at his desk putting peanuts in a bottle of Coke! We all boomed out with laughter at this strange

sight and asked why he did this. He then went on a long hilarious ramble as to why this was his

favorite snack. Another example of this that I remember happened in my junior year. Mr. C

made a mistake in class and once called out on it he stated, “Sorry guys, it's probably because an

axe landed inside my head.” Of course, the whole class was appalled, but it was so funny how he

abruptly reduced the tension in the room with his outlandish remarks. He then goes on to tell the

story of how before he was a teacher, he did land surveying. One day, he tripped in the woods

with a long axe in his hand and it landed on his head and split his scull open. Of course, from the

adrenaline he didn’t feel it, but once his team members saw the blood, he then passed out. What

was of course a tale not funny at the time gained life and color with his presentation of words,

and he was able to give his students a laugh. On top of this, he has many things around his room

that prompt more funny stories, such as a snickers box hanging from the ceiling and a quote wall

with funny things that have been said over the years. He also has a slew of funny comments that

he makes. This is true so much so, that my senior year we were able to make a two-minute-long
 Devane

video compilation of funny things that he says. We presented it to him as a gift and we all had a

final laugh with him before we were off to our next chapters!

I also believe that he is the best teacher I have ever had because of his qualifications to

teach. Starting in grade school, Mr. C knew that he wanted to teach music. He has recordings of

him performing in musicals, concerts, and ensembles from before he even hit puberty. The

repertoire of choral pieces that he has ranges from modern day to things he did back then, which

totals over 30 years of the study of music. He also went to UNCSA which is the North Carolina

school of the arts. There he auditioned for a lot of things and learned a lot of music under the

guidance of seasoned professionals. He went on to continue the study of Music at East Carolina

University. It was here where he learned even more about music and how to teach it. He was a

part of many groups and graduated with great accomplishments. He went on to teach starting in

about 2002, and he plans to teach until his youngest child graduate's high school in 2036. He has

immense knowledge about what he does, and he uses it to do many things. He has helped me

learn some things on the piano, he prides himself on being able to teach anyone to sing, and he

even arranged a piece that helped us win the 2022-23 acapella state championship this past year!

Finally, I believe that he is the best teacher I have ever had just purely because of his love

and compassion for his students. Even though he could get in trouble for it, he used to pray for

us. Even when he didn’t have to, he showed us he believed in us by allowing us to compete in

ICHSA which is a national acapella competition. In times when we didn’t believe in ourselves,

he gave us reassuring words of encouragement that helped us to reach semifinals in Florida.

Additionally, he has been teaching for a long time and has a lot of students who this love has

resonated with. He had two former students come in to speak to us about their post high school

experiences. They came all the way from California to visit him and do him this favor. Also,
 Devane

every year for the spring concert, he invites past members to join on stage and sing the final

song, which has been the same for as long as he has been teaching. The stage instantly fills with

people ranging from recent graduates to people as old as my parents. It is a beautiful sight. This

shows that he made a lasting impact on their lives.

While I view him as a model teacher, there are some people who don’t. Some of the

people I used to talk to last year said that they thought he favored his daughter. His daughter was

a junior in his class and got a lot of solos. Looking outside, this did seem a little suspect as to

why she got to sing in front as much as she did. In all actuality, she was just a beast of a singer.

Every solo she got, she auditioned for just like everyone else. She just did better than everyone

else, and we were doing competitive things all year long, so our best had to be displayed. What

people didn’t know is that Mr.C actually came to me before giving his daughter a solo late in the

year. He didn’t want her to feel as if she was taking all the solos and he didn’t want people to

think he was just handing them over to her. I told him just as I stated in this essay: that she earns

everything she gets, and we have to do what we have to do to win. Even the conviction he had

was enough to show me the character he had. Also, my sister wasn’t the fondest of him, and

when I asked her why she claimed it was because he didn’t like her first and it was for “no

reason”. This is not a quality reason not to like someone, but I know that my sister was very

chatty in class, and she didn’t like that Mr. C didn’t accept this because he wanted the best out of

her.

All in all, I think Mr. C was a great teacher. He had an amazing sense of humor. He also

is very qualified to teach the things he does. He also loves and cares for his students. Even when

people don’t like him, it isn't justified! If you think your teacher is the best in the world, you're

going to have to go through Mr. C first!