Math had never been something I was good at since middle school. Classes became harder in high school, and I was even further from a math teacher's dream student. So at the start of my freshman year, I had an aversion to math. It wasn't that I didn't want to do well, but simply that I didn't think I was able to do well. "I can't" became my state of mind in all things related (有关的) to math.
However, I was soon to learn that "I can't" was not a choice in Mr. A's class.
Mr. A always greeted (迎接) us with open arms as he said, "Welcome! Smile! It's a great day to be alive!" It was clear that Mr. A had a true passion (热情) not only for math but for teaching. If Mr. A ever experienced bad days in life, he never showed it. Mr. A greeted us with that same smile every day. He encouraged each student, from the top achiever to the "I can't" student.
I found myself looking forward to math class, although I still hated the subject itself. Being in Mr. A's presence made me feel good, as if I had the chance to succeed. As the year progressed, I spent increasingly more time on my homework, and I met with Mr. A weekly. My classmates began to do the same, and it became "cool" to have lunch and talk with Mr. A. We didn't know it at the time, but he was changing our attitudes (态度).
Though my story is not one of overnight success and I didn't become a straight-A math student, my hard work did begin to pay off and my grades slowly began to climb. There were hard times, of course. Difficult math questions sometimes succeeded in bringing me down, but Mr. A kept reminding (提醒) me, "Kate, smile! It's a great day to be alive!"
