Throughout my schools years, my educators always belittled me, which is quite ironic because they were the ones who were supposed to encourage me. Due to this, from a young age, I felt segregated in the classroom, I felt singled out as the “ dumbest kid in the classroom” for many unpleasant years. I’m sure we all had that “ please don’t call on me” moment in class. Well for me, that was pretty much every day because the teachers purposely called on me when they knew that I was unaware of the answer just to embarrass me. School became a phobia for me, especially history because I had a difficult time remembering names and dates.

When I entered high school, the fear stuck with me because of how brutal my school experiences had been. I was afraid to raise my hand, afraid of walking into the classroom… I was afraid of succeeding.

I distinctly remember walking into my AP United States History class with Mr. Cunningham, my incredible teacher. I have never had an educator as passionate as him.

Mr. Cunningham treats all his students equally, which every teacher claims to do; however they have their favorites. Even though the class is large, he devotes individual time to each student to ask them questions about their study habits, how they felt about the homework and previous exams. What I love about his class is that he truly does treat it like a college course. His lessons consist of a lecture, a historical game, jokes, handouts and group work. Ive learned so much because of the wonderful communication he established in the classroom.
He even tutors children from other classes to make sure they understand the topic as well! He truly loves his job and tries to implement his love for history into the education of students as well.

Aside from his teaching tactics, my main message about Mr.Cunningham is that I will forever be grateful to him. When I walk into my college history class, I will boldly sit in the front and raise my hand. I will no longer be that girl that sits in the back because she is afraid of being embarrassed or starred at. He not only gave me knowledge in a subject I had trouble with, but he gave me my self confidence back. Mr.Cunningham may not even see this, but if he does, Thank you so much. Who knew that my history class, the last class of my day , would change my life.