Math was always a struggle for me. It was my least favorite subject and I always did poorly in it. I never quite understood it until I walked into Mrs. Brinkman’s Advanced Algebra class my junior year. I had been dreading the class all day; I wanted to be anywhere else but there.
My grades freshman and sophomore year never reflected my performance. I tried hard to grasp the concept and fully comprehend the material but my tests and quizzes didn’t show that. I hated the way other teachers taught math because it was just plain and boring. It was the same routine over and over again every day.

The light bulb finally turned on when I was in Mrs. Brinkman’s class. I was finally getting A’s and B’s on my test and quizzes. It was a huge improvement going from F’s and D’s to A’s and B’s. I didn’t hate going to math class anymore, I loved it!
Every day was an exciting day in math. Mrs. Brinkman knew how to keep us attentive and ready to learn. You just knew Mrs. Brinkman loved teaching math; she was always happy and cheerful. She would always get so excited when she was teaching the class something new. Mrs. Brinkman is the kind of teacher that wants everyone to achieve and do their best. Not many teachers truly care about how their students perform, but you could tell that Mrs. Brinkman really did care. She would push me past my limits because she knew I could do it.
Mrs. Brinkman is the kind of teacher that makes you actually want to come to class and learn. I believe that is very rare among teachers today. But it wasn’t always just straight math. Mrs. Brinkman always had some goofy story to tell us, or some funny video she saw on YouTube that she had to show the class. She connected with us on a personal level.
Mrs. Brinkman’s class changed my outlook on math. I am no longer scared nervous or timid before going into a new math class. Mrs. Brinkman showed me that even if I think I won’t understand something that all I need to do is slow down, concentrate, and push myself to achieve.