I was fourteen years old and I just came to the junior high school. It seemed that I would have difficulties finishing high school because I was a troubled teenager. However, one person came into my life quietly and then completely changed everything.
The first year in my school, Mr. Brown taught me history. He was quite different from the other teachers I had known. But I had to say that he was sure a great teacher.
One day, Mr. Brown called me aside(到旁边) and asked why I was a B student in his class but a C student in the rest of my classes. I passionately(热情地)told him about my divorced(离婚的)parents, the gangs (尤指滋事的青少年团伙), the fights, the police—all of the evil things I had experienced. It was then that Mr. Brown patiently explained that the only person responsible(有责任的)for my situation was me. And the only person with the ability to change my situation was me, too. He told me that I failed not because I was a failure as a student. He encouraged me to become a better student.
Ten years later, I was preparing to graduate(毕业)from a university. The first person coming to my mind was him. So I tried to reach him and wanted to tell him that I really wished him to come to enjoy this important moment together with me.
I'll never forget his reply. He said, "Who is this again?"
At that moment, I came to realize that I was just one of hundreds of the students whose lives were changed by him but he had no idea of his influence.
Mr. Brown never came to my graduation(毕业), but his not coming taught me another important lesson. His final lesson for me was that we will never know or understand the influence we have on other people's lives. And he also taught me that we all have the chance to influence people's lives for the better or for the worse.
