I sat in my accounting class junior year at Arrowhead High School at the computer just completely lost. I had no clue what I was doing or how to do any of the work. I was tempted to, as Mr. Brester would say “cook the books” and just start plugging in random numbers to get the write answer. When the bell rings and class is over, I am nowhere near finishing the assignment that is due next class.  I give in and ask for help. I tell Mr. Brester that I don’t understand Depreciation and that I need help.

So we start from scratch and restart the whole review problem. It took awhile to start understanding but Mr. Brester helped me through every part of the problem. It goes to show that teachers are always going to push you and guide you through challenges and they don’t want to leave you behind. Eventually I was able to finally understand it and finished just as the 6th hour was coming to an end. I ended up using my accounting class period, my lunch, and my study hall just to finish the assignment. I felt the guilt in my stomach as I had taken three class periods to finish the review problem. I said, “I am sorry I took up so much time with this.”
 
He responded with, “Don’t be sorry, that’s why I am here. This is a tough review but I think it’s really good and will help you for the test.” That had brought me relief and I knew that I could count on him to help me in the future.

I took accounting sophomore year and I really liked it but not only for the subject, but for Mr. Brester. I decided that I would take college accounting and give that a shot. I knew it might be a challenge but Mr. Brester would make the class much more enjoyable. He is a very kind person but also loves to crack jokes and make fun of people. He is able to teach but still make the class much more lively and when he needs to get serious he will, but then go back to poking fun at someone. 

I learned that he also really likes food. Junior year, I remember that someone had a little bag of fruity candies and he saw that and said, “Oh you brought me some fruity candy!” and then proceeded to reach into the bag and snag a couple candies without even asking. I remember we just started laughing.  Now his new thing is cookies. Someone always has cookies with their lunch and every class period he asks, “Did you bring me any cookies today?” These simple moments are what really makes my day much more enjoyable, because if I have a rough day or I have a boring class, Mr. Brester will be there to crack a joke or make fun of someone, and I don’t mean this in a mean way as he just does it for a few laughs, but it brings me joy.

Now I am in the third year of accounting and I still really enjoy the class even though it’s technically independent study and Mr. Brester. Although he doesn’t teach us directly, he is always making sure that we understand what we are learning and asking if we need help with anything. 

Mr. Brester not only cares about your learning in his class, but also our life outside of school and our hobbies. He is always asking about how sports are going and is interested in learning more, or what you did over the weekend. This helps with creating a bond between student and teacher and makes you more inclined to want to learn or be in a class rather than just be two people in the same room together just watching and listening.

The impact that Mr. Brester has made on me, I will forever cherish. I am grateful that I got to have him as my teacher for three years and I hope the students that he has in the future enjoy their time with him just as much as I did and always supply him with cookies.