My freshman and sophomore year I struggled with my grades. I was unable to understand concepts that others could easily understand and I felt left behind at Arrowhead High School. I had a Social Studies class where I sat in the back of class and I knew no one, and the pressure to succeed was exponentially higher than anything I’ve felt in school before. Yet I was happy to be in the class, and that was because of the teacher, Daniel Miller.
Mr. Miller dresses casually and he is a little taller than the average high school boy. He doesn't teach in some ridiculously extravagant way, but the way he taught transferred confidence to me from the words of his lesson. As a student that was new to the Arrowhead curriculum and way of teaching, I lacked the confidence and understanding of what I was supposed to do.

He teaches with gusto and confidence and with a loud, strong voice.  I made sure to listen and I couldn't help to . I was able to score a 126% on my first test, the best I’ve ever done. Mr. Miller's teaching style explained the topic in full, rather than explaining what I need to know at a base level. He would connect it to other events or just simply going in depth in the event beyond what we had to know.

I remember everyday at the end of class he would wish everyone to have a great day and when he would see me in the hallway he would acknowledge me and ask how I’m doing. It may not seem like a significant thing to some, but it would put a smile on my face, so I began to do the same thing to my teachers at the end of class.
My sophomore year was about to start and with that my soccer season and when I found out Mr. Miller would be the JV soccer coach, I was exhilarated to have my favorite teacher as a coach as well. I learned quite a bit about soccer, but I learned more about how to apply sportsmanship from soccer to real life, something I use everyday of my life.

I learned to appreciate everything I had better, I learned to respect people and give handshakes and ask how people were doing. Treating everyone everyone as equal was my goal.  Practices would be the normal running, pushups, and drills, but intertwined were the lessons of hard work, confidence, and professionalism on and off the field. Learning communication that would enhance relationships on and off the field. Respect that would strengthen my personality and sportsmanship. Most importantly, learning what it means to be an individual with your head held high and what comes with that.

Coach Miller would play with us during practice, he would talk to us about what we needed to improve on, and he would shake our hands at the end of practice. I used this way of looking on life with holding my head held high with confidence and it worked, my gpa went from a 1.6 to a 3.7. I thank Mr. Miller for being a great role model, coach, and teacher that changed my life for the better, in school and as a person.