MY FAVORITE TEACHER

I'M NOW 69 YEARS OLD AND SINCE THIRD GRADE WHEN I WAS 9 YEARS OLD - A GOAL OF MINE WAS TO HELP THE NEEDY. THIS IS VERY INTERESTING AND SURPRISING, AS THE NEEDY REALLY TURNED OUT TO BE MY F

 

     I'M NOW 69 YEARS OLD AND SINCE THIRD GRADE WHEN I WAS 9 YEARS OLD - A GOAL OF MINE WAS TO HELP THE NEEDY. THIS IS VERY INTERESTING AND SURPRISING, AS THE NEEDY REALLY TURNED OUT TO BE MY FAMILY OF TEN SIBLINGS AND TWO PARENTS AND WE WERE VERY POOR.

     I HAD IT ALL PLANNED HOW I WAS GOING TO HELP THESE NEEDY PEOPLE AND THIS WAS BEING A NURSE.  BUT LITTLE DID I KNOW AT SUCH TIME - THAT THIS GOAL OF MINE REQUIRED MONEY.  FOR YEARS, THE IDEA OF BECOMING A NURSE STAYED IN MY HEAD AND MY FAMILIES LIMITED RESOURCES KEEP EATING AT ME.  SO FINALLY AT THE END OF MY SOPHOMORE YEAR _ I QUIT SCHOOL AT THE AGE OF 16, MARRIED AT AGE OF 17 AND MOVED ABOUT 300 MILES AWAY FROM WHERE I WAS RAISED IN MOOERS, N.Y., EVENTUALLY HAD TWO CHILDREN - PATRICIA NOW 51 AND ALBERT NOW 46.

     THE AREA THAT I HAD MOVED TO HAD A LARGE PSYCHIATRIC STATE HOSPITAL WITH A CENSUS OF ABOUT 7,000 PATIENTS, SO I WENT TO WORK THERE AS A NURSES AID.  AND AS I WAS WORKING WITH DOCTORS & NURSES AND HELPING TO TAKE CARE OF THE PATIENTS - I STARTED TO RECALL WHAT MR. DONALD LAPIERRE (A 8^th GRADE MATH AND SCIENCE TEACHER) WROTE IN MY SCIENCE HOMEWORK NOTE BOOK: " YOU SEEM TO UNDERSTAND THE LAB EXPERIMENTS AND HAVE THE SKILLS NEEDED FOR A FUTURE IN SCIENCE."

     RECALLING AND REFLECTING ON WHAT HE WROTE WAS JUST WHAT I NEEDED TO START ATTENDING NIGHT CLASSES AT A HIGH SCHOOL IN POUGHKEEPSIE, N.Y. TO WORK ON GETTING MY HIGH SCHOOL EQUIVALENCY DIPLOMA. 

     ABOUT ONE YEAR LATER' MUCH TO MY DELIGHT AND SURPRISE, I ACCOMPLISHED THAT GOAL AND RECEIVED A EQUIVALENCY DIPLOMA FROM THE NEW YORK STATE EDUCATION DEPARTMENT'

     AFTER OBTAINING ABOVE DESIRED GOAL - IT'S LIKE I COULDN'T GET MR. LAPIERRE'S WORDS OUT OF MY HEAD AND THUS DEVELOPED A DESIRE TO GO TO COLLEGE.  IT WAS THOSE INSPIRATIONAL WORDS IN THAT SCIENCE NOTEBOOK THAT MADE ME ENROLL AS A NURSING STUDENT AT DUTCHESS COMMUNITY COLLEGE IN POUGHKEEPSIE IN 1969. 

      I FOUND THE NURSING PROGRAM VERY DIFFICULT BUT KEPT THINKING OF MR. LAPIERRE AND HIS APPARENT CONFIDENCE IN ME - AND GRADUATED IN JUNE OF 1971 WITH A AAS DEGREE IN NURSING BUT NOT WITHOUT MUCH STRUGGLING AND MANY TEARS.

     AND HIS WORDS STUCK WITH ME ALL WHILE I WAS TAKING THE NEW YORK STATE NURSING BOARD EXAMS.  IT WAS DIFFICULT FOR ME TO BELIEVE THAT I PASSED ALL FIVE CATEGORIES ON THE FIRST TRY AND WITH ABOVE AVERAGE GRADES.

     SEVERAL YEARS LATER- I WENT BACK TO COLLAGE AND GOT A BSPA DEGREE MAJORING IN PSYCHOLOGY FROM SAINT JOSEPH'S COLLEGE IN WINDHAM, MAINE.

     FOR ALL HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS WHO READ THIS - PLEASE WORK AT GRADUATING FROM HIGH SCHOOL, AS LEARNING IS MUCH EASIER WHEN YOU DON'T HAVE THE RESPONSIBILITIES OF CARING FOR A FAMILY AND GOING TO SCHOOL LIKE I DID.

     I RETIRED FROM THE NEW YORK STATE DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTION IN MARCH OF 1991 WITH 33 YEARS OF STATE SERVICE AND MY HUSBAND FRANK AND I ARE ABLE TO ENJOY OUR RETIREMENT AND ALL THIS BECAUSE I HAD A TEACHER IN EIGHTH GRADE THAT CARED ENOUGH TO TAKE TIME TO WRITE A FEW WORDS TO AN UNDER - PRIVILEGED STUDENT.

ELIZABETH P. ASHLINE

Upload Your Own Stories, Photos and Videos

Every week, American Profile magazine brings you stories that celebrate the people and places that make America great. Now we want to hear your stories and see your photos, videos and even audio.

 Start Uploading Now!

 

Discuss this Article