My Teacher My Inspiration

       

My Teacher My Inspiration

    

    Walking into high school as a freshman, I feared what my teachers were going to be like. Are they going to be mean and ruthless or easygoing and helpful? Throughout freshman, sophomore, and junior year I was never scared to start a new class. That was until senior year in my Health Occupations 3 class which taught skills and knowledge of health care workers. On the first day of class, as I walked into the room, I saw a short, younger lady in the proper dress attire of a nurse. Her hair was pulled up, her stethoscope was around her neck, and she was in what seemed to be a good mood. As the rest of the class flowed in, it got quieter and quieter. Me taking Health Occupations 1 and 2, I was never worried about the next class that followed. Mrs. Grieb, the class's new teacher, stood up out of her chair and began to say with a serious tone in her voice, "This class will be taken seriously. So, if you don't think you can handle it, leave." I never thought in my entire life I would consider dropping a class so fast. Even though my first impression of her urged me in the direction of dropping the course, I decided to stay. 

    

       She kept the same mentality through the first week: if the class was too hard for you, leave. I kept considering it, but I knew that this class would help me in the long run. When it hit the third week, she put her guard down and got more comfortable with us. She started to open up somewhat and have fun. We started to do fun games and challenges in the classroom, where Mrs. Grieb opened her funny side. She even thought it would be funny to have an easter egg hunt vocabulary review. We had to find an easter egg hidden in the room and then fill the definition out on paper. I would always joke around with her from that point, and eventually, everyone got comfortable with one another. Grieb then told us about how she became a nurse, educated us on her schooling, and told us stories about herself.

    

        Every senior at my school had to create a senior project to present to staff to graduate. I decided to make mine an interview with my Health Occupations teacher. The project had to be about the career path we wanted to go down. As a result, I decided that because Mrs. Grieb had the most significant impact on me, she would be the best to complete the project. In the interview, I asked her a couple questions, one of which was, "What's the most rewarding part of your job as a nurse?"

    

        "Hands down, being there for them when their family or loved ones can't be. If I could put a smile on their face during a difficult day, I called that a win," she responded.

Mrs. Grieb on Teacher Health Day

    With just this response, I was never more motivated to help others. She always said, "Go the extra mile," and that will forever be my goal. Mrs. Grieb is the reason why I am where I am today. If it wasn't for her I wouldn't believe in myself as much as I do at this point in my life. She has taught me helping others is an essential part of life, and it's a blessing to help others grow.

       

       There was a grant for all career and technology classes to apply for to win just by simply writing why our class should receive the money. Our teacher Mrs. Grieb told us if we won the grant we would have our own teacher health day, like a small clinic where teachers come to our class to get a check-up. After putting all the effort into writing why we should receive the grant, our teacher announced to the class "We won the grant, now it's time to prep for our very own first teacher health day!" She separated us into groups, and we began. We had to set up stations such as front desk, height, weight, vitals, Snellen eye test, blood sugar, and nutrition. During the health day, some students came in early during their lunch, including me. When the group of us walked in, it smelled of disinfectant spray and all you saw was Mrs. Grieb in her dark blue scrubs with a giant smile hidden under her mask. She had all stations ready for when students came in. As you walk past the front desk, you see five hospital beds, all of which consist of a station. Each station had a colorfully decorated sign. Every student had to rotate stations every half hour to practice all skills. Between all the teachers coming in and all the students working hard, the day went by fast, and just like that, teacher health day was over. "You all have impressed me with the skills I have taught you," she said with tears in her eyes. 

        "We wouldn't have known what to do without you," I said in response. 

My Group During Teacher Health Day

 Throughout the year, everything ran smoothly. She helped us get CPR certified, OSHA trained and did ACT 31 training to become mandated reporters. After thinking I should have dropped this class at the beginning of the year, I am glad I didn't. Her class was the only one I knew would help me in my future. With all of her help and the stories she told us, I knew this profession was for me. Her teaching allowed me to understand why helping others was something I needed to be involved with. She is an essential factor in why I am pursuing a career in the health care field.