In elementary school, I had a good attitude towards learning. But that changed when I reached middle school, and by the time I was a sophomore in high school, I no longer had the desire to learn. Years of arbitrary rules, boring teachers, and long days had cause me to give up on caring about school. But Mr. Reichle, my AP European History teacher, helped to change that.
Mr. Reichle is different than most teachers. Laid back and humorous, he helped to make history, a traditionally boring subject, interesting. I never thought I would say I looked forwards to my history class, but when I had him, it was the highlight of the day.
Walking into class on the first day, Mr. Reichle made it a point to greet every student enthusiastically with a “Welcome to European History!” He then made us walk around and meet the other students we didn’t know. The next day, we had a quiz on everybody’s name. I didn’t realize it at the time, but he was making it so that we were comfortable with every other student in that class; I was never afraid to ask any of them for help or to meet with them to study for a test.
It was his vast knowledge and passion about European History that made the class great. Everyday, he stood up in front of his students and seemed genuinely excited to be sharing his knowledge with us. It seemed as if any question we threw his way he could immediately answer confidently,without hesitation. Normally teachers become jaded after many years of teaching, but Mr. Reichle had been teaching the subject for over fifteen years and still brought enthusiasm every day.
But Mr. Reichle cared more about just teaching us European History. He would go on anecdotes in class on topics such as college, careers, and finances. He gave us helpful advice from his own experiences, knowing that these things would soon be on our minds. One piece of advice that stuck with me was when he told us that, although high school is often geared towards putting students in a four year university, it is perfectly okay two attend a two year college or a technical school, and you can still obtain a good job. This caused me to think about my future and what I wanted to do.
When AP testing time rolled around, he made it a point to offer after school review sessions for us. As a teacher, a father of two, and a husband, he took time out of his free hours to help us prepare. I have never encountered a teacher with so much dedication to helping his students do well. Without the help of Mr. Reichle, there’s no way I would have scored a four on the AP test.
After years of complacency and being happy with average, Mr. Reichle helped to change me. Through his class, I became more enthusiastic about learning and excited for college. If you had told me that I would finish with an A in an AP class, I would have laughed. But now I know that if I work towards it, it is easily attainable. Although every teacher won’t be as knowledgeable, passionate, and dedicated as Mr. Reichle, I now know the excitement that can be involved in learning if you have the right attitude. Thank you, Mr. Reichle.